traveling w/ laptop

something about homeland security being able to confiscate it for pretty any reason they want

I haven't heard of anything of the kind happening, Justin. Where did you hear this?

There was a big article in the NY Times about this a couple of weeks ago. Homeland security was/is confiscating laptops of some travelers of Middle Eastern descent (Americans and Foreigners)who work for foreign multinational corporations. The allegation is that homeland security is confiscating these laptops, and handing them over to the CIA so they can conduct corporate espionage rather than fight terrorism. A class action lawsuit has been filed. In the grand scheme of things it only effects a very small number of people, so if you don't fall into this category I wouldn't worry about it.

Yeah I wasn't too worried about it, but always best to find out for sure. Thanks all!

Take your sales receipt for your laptop to prove that you purchased it in the U.S. rather than in Europe. You don't want to pay duty on it! Same goes for other items, such as camera, MP3 player, etc.

It's not just an issue with international flights--it's all flights where the passenger "voluntarily" hands over the laptop to be screened. Some people have had their computers taken and their hard drives copied by TSA looking for child pornography. The government argument is that people who voluntarily put thier laptops in the bin have no residual expectation of privacy in their computer files. The counter-argument is that no one expects the contents to be accessed by the government just by agreeing to an xray search. There's currently a split in the appellate cases on this, so the Supreme Court will probably get the last word on this practice sooner rather than later.

Some companies are now sending their employees through airports with stripped down laptops with only the bare minimum of company information on them.

This was posted 2/8/08 on TSA's own blog:

We have received several questions, comments and links to other blogs about a Washington Post article on confiscating laptops and other electronic devices at airports.

As the article correctly states, this is a customs issue and not one TSA is involved in.

TSA does not and will not confiscate laptops or other electronic devices at our checkpoints. Our officers’ are solely focused on the safety of the traveling public and are looking for explosives and other prohibited items. Should one of our officers find something suspicious, we will immediately contact local law enforcement and potentially the local bomb squad. We will not ask for any password, access to any files or take the laptop from you for longer than it takes to determine if it contains a threat.

Should anyone at a TSA checkpoint attempt to confiscate your laptop or gain your passwords or other information, please ask to see a supervisor or screening manager immediately.