Dear friends & fellow world wanderers:
I just encountered some information even I did not know—when US citizens return home from overseas, TSA is entitled to seize our laptops and KEEP THEM FOR MONTHS if we present suspicious aspects. Please see:
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/08/new-dhs-laptop-search-policy-crap-sandwich-fancier-bread.ars
If you think this is not something to worry about, may I remind you that TSA recently detained a former president of India?
I strongly suggest you take an alternate data device when traveling outside the US; especially those of us who may have ever said or written something non-complimentary about TSA and Homeland Security. You know who you are! And so do they…
And if you do have to take your main computer, as I will on a trip to Europe next month, BACK UP EVERY BIT OF DATA on it before you leave. I don’t know about you, but if I had no access to what’s on my hard drive for 6 months, it would be professionally fatal.
Yours for a better world (someday),
Eric Lucas
Eric Lucas is a an international travel and business writer who lives in Seattle; to learn more, visit his website, www.TrailNot4Sissies.com.
Ellen Barone is an American writer and wanderer. She co-founded and publishes the group travel blog YourLifeIsATrip.com and is currently at work on her first book "I Could Live Here".