Loss of Privacy

The next time that you just need some time off of work or are planning a vacation, be thankful that your job has not yet implemented such invasive questions about your absence.

The form in use is not to be used for illnesses.  It is for future/scheduled absences that need to be approved, which makes one wonder why they are even using the form.

One interesting reason is surgery – thumb.  Are only thumb surgeries allowed?  Another is Wax.  What the hell does that mean?  HIV is another peculiar one.  Sorry, I can’t come in on the 20th, I’m having HIV that day.

Kidneys, bladder, Sexual Organ with that exact, random spelling and odd arrangement are a single choice.

Some of the other options include Alopecia, Amputation of Toe, Detachment from Reality, Eye Burn, H, Inability to cope, Nail Problems, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Oral / Tongue Problems, S20 Pain, Sunburn, Threatened abortion, Warts, and Wounds

While something like this would be illegal in the USA, the fact that it’s being reported by someone who uses the term “holiday” and the particular spellings of words indicates that this is most likely in the United Kingdom, where it might not be illegal.

The ACLU has set up a handy page so that you can tell Congress that enough is enough and that the DHS needs to curb its growing problem of travel abuses.

With no suspicion and no explanation, the U.S. government can seize your laptop, cell phone, or PDA as you enter the United States and download all your private information — including your personal and business documents, emails, phone calls, and web history.

And what happens if you refuse to let the agents download your personal photos? Or if you have encrypted your private information? Then Border Patrol — which is now an agency of the Department of Homeland Security — can simply copy your entire hard drive or even take your device and hang on to it indefinitely.

Traveling shouldn’t mean checking your rights when you’re checking your luggage.  It’s time for some sanity when it comes to security.

Lawrence Lessig, a respected Law Professor from Stanford University told an audience at this years Fortune’s Brainstorm Tech conference in Half Moon Bay, California, that “There’s going to be an i-9/11 event” which will act as a catalyst for a radical reworking of the law pertaining to the Internet.

Lessig also revealed that he had learned, during a dinner with former government Counter Terrorism Czar Richard Clarke, that there is already in existence a cyber equivalent of the Patriot Act, an “i-Patriot Act” if you will, and that the Justice Department is waiting for a cyber terrorism event in order to implement its provisions.

Lessig: “I had dinner once with Richard Clark at the table and I said ‘is there an equivalent to the Patriot Act — an iPatriot Act — just sitting waiting for some substantial event just waiting for them to come have the excuse for radically changing the way the Internet works?’ And he said, ‘Of course there is’ — and I swear this is what he said, and quote — ‘and Vint Cerf is not going to like it very much.’”

If any of this ever does come to pass, there will be a monstrous uptake in VPNs and private networks.  The ISPs have already been using deep packet inspection, so when they start banning anything they can’t identify, you will see a whole slew of programs that will circumvent this as well.  The majority of people won’t care because they will still be able to get to myspace and facebook, but those of us that value what little freedoms we still have left will find a way around it.

Keep in mind, the government already has this outlined.  They are just waiting for an online event similar to 9/11 to happen so they can use it as an excuse to implement it.

You can watch the discussion on google video or Boing Boing.  The entire thing is 19:21 and, at around 4:30, you can hear Lawrence Lessig speak.

Stumbling around on the Interwebs, I came across this guy who has stolen 20 things and he’s not at all guilty about it.  Here’s the first ten in his list.

I took an extra napkin from a Taco Bell for unspecified use “later.”

I sat on a bench on a hot day, enjoying the breeze as the man next to me fanned himself.

I read the headlines of a newspaper that was for sale in a kiosk box.

I divided a single-serving DingDong in two, and had it for dessert on two consecutive days.

I listened all the way through to a Metallica song emanating from my neighbor’s radio, but closed my window when the commercial came on.

I remembered the movie times in my newspaper from the day before so I wouldn’t have to buy a copy of the paper today.

When a friend’s cat chose my lap to sit in, I petted it, precisely to discourage it from moving to the lap of its rightful owner.

I said “What a long, strange trip it’s been” without air quotes.

On the Amtrak “quiet car,” I listened to a man in the seat ahead of me explaining to the bored woman next to him how he gets such a great shine on his shoes. I have since used his technique, successfully.

I have stared carefully at reproductions of great paintings.

As if traveling wasn’t bad enough, we now learn that the DHS can take your laptop, for any reason, and hold it indefinitely, copying the contents without your permission.  This policy [pdf] is ridiculous considering many people travel for business reasons and keep vital documents on these laptops.  Placing them online only adds to the fact that the documents could be obtained nefariously, thus leaving many companies in a quandary as to what they can do to protect their documents.

“The policies . . . are truly alarming,” said Sen. Russell Feingold (D-Wis.), who is probing the government’s border search practices. He said he intends to introduce legislation soon that would require reasonable suspicion for border searches, as well as prohibit profiling on race, religion or national origin.

DHS officials said that the newly disclosed policies — which apply to anyone entering the country, including U.S. citizens — are reasonable and necessary to prevent terrorism. Officials said such procedures have long been in place but were disclosed last month because of public interest in the matter.

The policies cover “any device capable of storing information in digital or analog form,” including hard drives, flash drives, cell phones, iPods, pagers, beepers, and video and audio tapes. They also cover “all papers and other written documentation,” including books, pamphlets and “written materials commonly referred to as ‘pocket trash’ or ‘pocket litter.’ “

Reasonable measures must be taken to protect business information and attorney-client privileged material, the policies say, but there is no specific mention of the handling of personal data such as medical and financial records.

When a review is completed and no probable cause exists to keep the information, any copies of the data must be destroyed. Copies sent to non-federal entities must be returned to DHS. But the documents specify that there is no limitation on authorities keeping written notes or reports about the materials.

Yes, I’m sure we can trust the government to destroy data they aren’t supposed to have in the first place.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff wrote in an opinion piece published last month in USA Today that “the most dangerous contraband is often contained in laptop computers or other electronic devices.” Searches have uncovered “violent jihadist materials” as well as images of child pornography, he wrote.

Besides the fact that people don’t typically bring this sort of information across borders on their laptops, the fact that they know you are looking for it means that they are simply going to leave it up on an FTP site and download it later or use a VPN, after they’ve come into the country.  Then again, they’ll probably find a way to intercept this method as well.