Quote:
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Following in the wake of February's news that customs agents were seizing electronics and making copies of all the files on cell phones and laptop hard drives, a federal appeals court has ruled on the legality of such searches. The result: Yeah, customs can do whatever it wants to your computer when you come across the border, without a warrant, and without cause.
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http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/null/90325
That's a pretty sweeping power to be able to arbitrarily sieze and copy the files on cell phones, laptops, digital cameras, etc. Does it amount to the same thing as police being able to just randomly show up at your door and do a search of your home for no other reason than they didn't like the garden gnome on your lawn? Or do you think it's more akin to an electronics vesion of a random luggage check?
Edit: Brutal, and I spelled Customs with an E in the thread title for some reason. =/