Traveling without privacy

Did you know that it is completely legal for transportation officials to compromise your privacy by searching your laptop files or digital camera?

Reading the Blog of Rights this morning, I was struck by just how completely international travelers are forced to give up their basic right to privacy – even if there is absolutely no reason (such as suspicious behavior) for the searches.

From the post:

“the Obama administration, in an August announcement that attracted little public attention, stated that it would continue President Bush’s policy of searching and copying the information on international travelers’ laptops, cameras and cell phones without any suspicion of wrongdoing. If you want to know how much that matters, just think about the personal information you have on those devices. The administration is expected to issue a civil liberties assessment of the policy any day now, but it’s hard to imagine any justification for groundless searches of Americans’ sensitive personal data.”

Just imagine how much private data you have on any given device – personal photos, bank records, purchasing information, etc. It’s utterly disturbing that this policy is still in place – check out this ACLU action alert Tell Congress: Rein in Government Travel Abuses to take action on the issue.