Federal Agents Can Now Seize Laptops At The Border

New policies recently disclosed by the Department of Homeland Security allow federal agents to seize travelers' laptops and other electronic devices when traveling to and from the border. Currently the policies only pertain to U.S. Citizens, with DHS officials saying it's a necessary to step to "prevent terrorism."

Apparently the measures have already been in place for some time, but were only disclosed recently after applied pressure from civil liberties and business travel groups. An increasing number of reports were showing up saying international travelers had their laptops, cellphones, and other devices removed and examined for lengthy periods of time. The policies also make hard drives, falsh drives, iPods, pagers, video, and audio tapes--as well as books, pamphlets, and other written materials fair game for seizure.

The policies in place require federal agents to take measures that would protect business information and attorney-client privileged material, and probable cause must be proven to exist for agents to keep materials. But the amount of time for these paperwork procedures to go through is anyone's guess.

Next time you travel out of the country, it might be easier to just forget your luggage and resist the urge to document anything. Although greater numbers of people at airports with no other belongings besides jeans, sandals, and a t-shirt is bound to raise suspicion at some point too.

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