Computers: An extension of ourselves?
A quick followup to Tuesday鈥檚 post: While the courts have made it clear that US Customs agents have the right to browse your computer any time you bring it across the border, there is one very interesting dissenting opinion.
During a 2006 child pornography case, where the evidence relied on an airport search of the defendant鈥檚 computer as he returned from the Philippines, Federal District Judge Dean Pregerson argued that the evidence should be suppressed. What鈥檚 interesting is his reasoning.
鈥淓lectronic storage devices function as an extension of our own memory,鈥� he wrote. 鈥淭hey are capable of storing our thoughts, ranging from the most whimsical to the most profound.鈥�
He says that authorities should not be able to search computers, BlackBerries, or PDAs without probable cause, because, as reports, they can store 鈥渄iaries, letters, medical information, financial records, trade secrets, attorney-client materials and 鈥� the clincher, of course 鈥� information about reporters鈥� 鈥榗onfidential sources and story leads.鈥� 鈥�
Judge Pregerson鈥檚 idea, however, is not the law. Most rulings agree that computers are simply lifeless gadgets and that anyone crossing the US border is liable to a full review of their belongs, digital or otherwise. Still, it鈥檚 a cool idea.
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