ShutteLag

I just had a surreal experience. The CBP agent wanted the password to my laptop as I was entering. I couldn't care less because there was nothing on my brand-new laptop. However, I kept getting the password wrong while I was trying to unlock it. (because it was a brand-new laptop and I had just set up a new password) He said something as I was trying to find the password and it struck a nerve in me "dont' worry about if if you can't find it, we can unlock it but you'll have to leave it here..."

Finally, I found the password on my phone and I gave it to the agent. He wrote it down and took my laptop to "the back" for 10 minutes. Came back with it and handed it back to me. Told me "have a good day" and I was on my way.

Let me back up a little bit... the reason I had a brand-new laptop was that I lost the password to my previous Lenovo laptop. After two weeks, I gave up trying and didn't feel like paying the $300 to $1250 fee that some data recovery firms quoted me. Even the IT "guru" at my company gave up after a few days. So I bought a new one.

A light bulb went off in my head... instead of forking over $300 to $1250 to have someone unlock it, why don't I just bring that paperweight laptop with me when I come back from overseas again? Is there a way for me to make the CBP want to look into and detain my laptop? If so, wouldn't they just unlock it somehow and return it to me for free?

Just want to see what people around here think of my wacky idea?

catocony

You bought a new laptop because you lost your password and then gave up the new laptop for the CBP with no questions asked?

Do you really want to know what we think?

ShutteLag

the new laptop had nothing on it.. except maybe some light browsing of touristy spots in Iceland and Denmark.

mikew99

I'm still stuck on the concept of buying a new laptop just because you forgot the password to the old one.

(Then again, I do have a friend who threatens to buy a new PC every time his browser crashes. I must have saved him thousands of dollars over the years by talking him down each time this happens.)

ShutteLag

Oh... sorry.. I should have said that the laptop BIOS locked, in addition to having its SSD locked.

I didn't want to throw it out or do something drastic to wipe it because I'm hoping to unlock it and retrieve the data at some point... which is why I bought a new laptop for my trip. (although my new laptop is so fast that I don't think I'll ever go back to my 2016 old laptop)

guflyer

If you don't mind my asking, do you have any idea what caused them to request to search your laptop? Did they decide because of answers to questions that they asked, or was it already pre-determined that your computer would be searched?

Also, at which airport did this happen (if you don't want to tell us which airport, I am curious about whether this was in the Ninth Circuit).

GUWonder

CBP decides to do it just because they can and because they have been given and used more money to do this kind of thing, including with use of tools that may be the product of criminal enterprise.

There are some in the US Senate and some in the US House that are looking to limit CBP's ability to do this to Americans. First, with him:

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/...order-airports

And now the ball is rolling with more:

http://thehill.com/policy/cybersecur...tal-devices-at

I hope this snowballs way more and puts DHS/CBP in its place, or otherwise the proportion of US persons subject to this kind of search is going to skyrocket further.

Boggie Dog

Question for the IT types. How quickly can a drive be imaged? I can see CBP just making an image for later review. Perhaps only an image of certain parts of the drive.

GUWonder

Say it's an average of 10MB/second to 100MB/second. That should give you an idea about how fast this can be. Note that some of these searches aren't full drive searches, and some of the drive copies need not be full drive searches to copy a substantial enough of data to do what the government may want to do.

Minutes to hours.

FlyingHoustonian

Were you traveling as a single male from the Southeast Asia/Philippines area back to the US (even for business)? Most likely then, though not always, a search for underage pornography type of files.

ShutteLag

not at all... I think I just ticked off the agent because I was messing with the laptop in line. also, I had nothing else with me... no backpack, no carry-on, no checked bag, no phone, .. just my laptop and the passport and wallet in my pocket.

GUWonder

The "no baggage" (other than laptop) on an international trip may have set the CBP off.

FredAnderssen

Hmmm....

I would rather be held up a few hours (or sent back home) than allow a corrupt government access to my files or property. If you really tick someone off, what's to keep them from planting something on your hard drive?

ShutteLag

I don't use smartphone... only old flip phones for me, the old geezer. (in my case, a Samsung AT&T unlocked quad-band flip phone that fits in my palm... I can completely close my fist around the phone)