Saturday, January 4, 2014
Your laptop, phone and camera may be searched within 100 miles of the Border
Court Upholds Willy-Nilly Gadget Searches Along U.S. Border
- 12.31.13
- 2:59 PM
A federal judge today upheld a President Barack Obama administration policy allowing authorities along the U.S. border to seize and search laptops, smartphones and other electronic devices for any reason.
The decision (.pdf) by U.S. District Judge Edward Korman in New York comes as laptops, and now smartphones, have become virtual extensions of ourselves, housing everything from email to instant-message chats to our papers and effects.
The American Civil Liberties Union brought the challenge nearly three years ago, claiming U.S. border officials should have reasonable suspicion to search gadgets along the border because of the data they store. But Judge Korman said the so-called “border exemption,” in which people can be searched for no reason at all along the border, continues to apply in the digital age.
Alarmingly, the government contends the Fourth-Amendment-Free Zone stretches 100 miles inland from the nation’s actual border.
The judge said it “would be foolish, if not irresponsible” to store sensitive information on electronic devices while traveling internationally.
Korman ruled:
Laptops have only come into widespread use in the twenty-first century. Prior to that time, lawyers, photographers, and scholars managed to travel overseas and consult with clients, take photographs, and conduct scholarly research. No one ever suggested the possibility of a border search had a chilling effect on his or her First Amendment rights. While it is true that laptops may make overseas work more convenient, the precautions plaintiffs may choose to take to ‘mitigate’ the alleged harm associated with the remote possibility of a border search are simply among the many inconveniences associated with international travel.The ACLU said it was mulling an appeal.
“We’re disappointed in today’s decision, which allows the government to conduct intrusive searches of Americans’ laptops and other electronics at the border without any suspicion that those devices contain evidence of wrongdoing,” said Catherine Crump, the American Civil Liberties Union attorney who argued the case in July 2011. “Suspicionless searches of devices containing vast amounts of personal information cannot meet the standard set by the Fourth Amendment, which prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures. Unfortunately, these searches are part of a broader pattern of aggressive government surveillance that collects information on too many innocent people, under lax standards, and without adequate oversight.”
The case was brought on behalf of 29-year-old Pascal Abidor, whose laptop was seized for 11 as he was traveling by rail from Canada to his parents’ New York residence in 2010. He was an Islamic studies graduate student in Canada.
At an Amtrak inspection point, he showed his U.S. passport to an agent. He was ordered to move to the cafe car, where they removed his laptop from his luggage and “ordered Mr. Abidor to enter his password,” according to the lawsuit.
Agents asked him about pictures they found on his laptop, which included Hamas and Hezbollah rallies. He explained to the agent that he was earning a doctoral degree in the modern history of Shiites in Lebanon.
He was handcuffed and then jailed for three hours while the authorities looked through his computer, according to the suit. Numerous agents questioned him, the suit says.
They released him and kept his laptop, until his lawyer complained.
Plaintiffs in the suit also include the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the National Press Photographers Association. The lawyers’ group maintains search policy exposes privileged communications. The photographers say the policy interferes “with their ability to do their work.”
The decision supports a conclusion 10 months ago from the Department of Homeland Security’s civil rights watchdog that said that travelers along the nation’s borders may have their electronics seized and the contents of those devices examined for any reason whatsoever — all in the name of national security.
The President George W. Bush administration first announced the suspicionless, electronics search rules in 2008. The Obama administration followed up with virtually the same rules a year later. Between 2008 and 2010, 6,500 persons had their electronic devices searched along the U.S. border, according to DHS data.
More FBI Hacking: Feds Crack Wi-Fi to Gather Evidence
More FBI Hacking: Feds Crack Wi-Fi to Gather Evidence
- 04.17.09
- 11:52 AM
Buried in the 150 pages of CIPAV spyware-related documents released by the FBI Thursday is a tantalizing nugget that indicates the bureau’s technology experts have more than one way to hack a suspect.
In early 2007, FBI agents with one of the bureau’s International Terrorism Operations Sections sought hacking help from the FBI’s geek squads. The agents were working a case in Pittsburgh, which is not described in the documents, and wanted to know "if [a] remote computer attack can be conducted against [the] target."
The FBI’s Cryptographic and Electronic Analysis Unit, CEAU, responded with two options. One of them was redacted from the released document as a sensitive investigative technique. The other is described this way: "CEAU advised Pittsburgh that they could assist with a wireless hack to obtain a file tree, but not the hard drive content."
Wi-fi hacking has featured prominently in some big cybercrimes, including the attack on TJ Maxx that exposed at least 45 million customer credit card numbers and other data. In that case, Albert "Segvec" Gonzalez and associates allegedly cracked the retailer’s WEP key and used it to gain entry to the corporate network, where he planted packet sniffers to scoop up the data.
But this is the first evidence that the FBI is using the same tactics. Presumably, suspects using one of the better encryption options — like WPA-2 — are immune.
It’s not clear why the FBI said it could only obtain a file tree — a hierarchical list of directories and files. It could be to avoid the risk of a judge later ruling that the search warrant was unconstitutionally over-broad, and consequently throwing out the evidence. Or maybe the bureau’s hackers don’t want to consume all of a target’s bandwidth while copying his entire porn directory into the FBI van on the street.
Homebrew "cantenna" photo courtesy Clicknmiken
Friday, January 3, 2014
Should we eat bugs? The new sustainable food of the future.
Will you be eating bugs in the future? Will it be in the new organic and sustainable food for school lunches?
It sounds crazy but the idea is not far fetched. People have been eating bugs for thousands of years. They can be nutritious and have a smaller "carbon footprint" than most protein sources. Government is getting more powerful. They ban all sorts of things. What is to stop them from mandating you to "eat your insects" for the good of the planet?
There is no such thing as a "free lunch".
Thursday, January 2, 2014
The Happy, Happy, Happy El Camino Real "Grand Boulevard" Scheme
Above is a Happy, Happy, Happy sales pitch for the Grand Boulevard project on the El Camino Real.
Everywhere in the Bay Area, Plan Bay Area is pushing massive urbanization schemes on local residents. The plans are wrapped up in pleasant sound names like "Smart Growth" and "New Urbanism" and it promises everything from "reducing obesity", to "lower crime" and "fight global warming". The planners at ABAG (Association of Bay Area Governments) www.planbayarea.org are projecting massive population increases at therefore claim all of this urbanization is needed.
Citizens in San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties are fighting this government intrusion into their communities. Palo Alto just defeated a huge 80 unit building proposed for a single family neighborhood. Redwood City, San Bruno residents are also leading the charge. Most people are still unaware of the project and the draconian land use restrictions it will entail. As people become aware of the Smart Growth schemes, more are rising out against it all over California.
Living in the Lilliput future of Smart Growth-micro apartments
 |
| The Marinwood Priority Development Area calls for more people in smaller living spaces. |
Editors Note: Urban Planning goes through its fads. The current fad is micro apartments in urban areas. It makes alot of money for developers and landlords but also burdens the city services by packing more people per square mile, calling for improvements to city infrastructure and services. I am certain there are not too many families (or couples) that choose this micro-apartment lifestyle. Why must SMART GROWTH planners force this lifestyle among we who prefer to live among nature in the suburbs? ............
Why Micro Apartments Are The Next Big Trend In City Living
AP Images
Mayor Michael Bloomberg reveals the new Living Small NYC project.
Urban dwellers must face the reality that cities are becoming increasingly over-crowded which means that housing is in short supply.
In New York City, 1.8 million one- and two-person households exist, but there are only 1 million studio and one-bedroom apartments in Manhattan, leaving a housing shortage.
The surge of tech wizards descending on San Francisco and the Bay area has caused rent in the city to skyrocket 22 percent since 2008, according to The New York Times.
London, too, is dealing with a housing crisis, where 1 in 10 people are on housing waiting lists, according to The Guardian.
In China, the firm Dragonomics estimated nearly 50 million of China's 230 million urban households live in "substandard quarters often lacking their own toilet and kitchen." To combat this issue, China would have to build 10 million apartments a year until 2030.
Clearly there is an urban housing crisis happening around the world, and it's forcing cities to rethink their approaches to real estate. But there's a solution: micro-apartments.
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/micro-apartment-trend-2012-10#ixzz2CFhur44i
Randal O'Toole critiques "Smart Growth" as is planned for Marin
Streetcars, Light Rail, Housing & TODs from portland politic on Vimeo.
Randal O'Toole talks about Portland's experiment in forcing people to live the "smart growth" lifestyle and how it is hurting Portland and Oregon. He shows how light rail and streetcars are a massive fraud and how Portland's Metro's land use dictates are destroying livability and home ownership.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)