Originally Posted by docr775
The discussion started with the TSA personnel looking through the laptop.
We must not be reading the same thread, because it's got nothing to do with the TSA - it's all about a Customs officer's fishing expedition by browsing the OP's computer files.
Originally Posted by docr775
Although, I am not sure of the legality of them looking through your files without a warrant
That's been covered in this thread. At the border, there's no need for a warrant for a search.
Originally Posted by docr775
I can tell you that the laptop has to be turned on and it has to show functionality. Why? A low level bomb can be hidden in a laptop. Plastic explosives can be hidden in the battery packs of the computer and sometimes the x-ray machine cannot tell the difference. That is why the laptops sometimes are being wiped with the round tissue that is chemically treated to turn color when plastic explosive residues are found. On the ground it will have the enough punch to blow me up and put a two foot hole in the ground. In the air, placed in the middle of plane, especially around the exit seats, where the fuel tanks are, it can vaporize the plane.
So, although some of the people who do the searches do push the limits, their job is to make sure that you get back on the ground safely so you can argue some more about what civil liberties they have infringed. Happy flying!!!!!
Customs wasn't looking for a bomb.
Anyway, the rest of your post is at odds with the way the TSA works. SOP is for the TSA to call the police/bomb squad whenever it suspects an explosive, not to turn on electonics to see if they go "boom."