Opinion: Get Off My Laptop, Border Patrol

Tuesday, 16 November 2010 | by Pat's Picks

The New York Times has some strong words about computer privacy on its opinion page, writing that just because a person is crossing a border shouldn’t mean that border patrol has the right to search their computer on a whim. The paper says it understands the need for border searches but that there’s a difference “between government agents scanning items for explosives or looking through a suitcase full of clothing, and searching through the hard drive of a laptop computer containing work papers, financial records, e-mail messages and Web site visits.”