I had my latop searched my US customs

[D33]

Just as a warning to all of you who travel with porn on your laptops, I was searched my US customs upon entry to the USA after being in Thailand. It was a random search.

They looked through every file, read my mail, looked for hidden files and looked at every CD I had. They looked at every video and every photo.

As most of you may know I shoot porn so I had some on me. They then wanted to see the ID card for EVERY model I had on my computer and CDs. Every single one of them. Of course I had them ALL to prove they were 18 years old age but they informed me if I didn't have IDs on any of them that they could confiscate my material and computer should they feel the need to.

It was a few hours of a cluster fuck and 100000 questions. They were looking for child porn, didn't find it and STILL added me into the computer to be searched for future visits. Gotta love America.

So heads up, ship your porn home if you have any. In the event you do get a random search and they find something without an ID card, your laptop may go bye-bye.

And for what its worth, it was ALL ladyboy porn. So they looked through a few hours of ladyboys. LOL  That part was glorious.

[Stogie]

You said it was 'random' but the meticulous way they went through your stuff suggests that actually it was not and that you were targeted.

Did they suddenly become familiar with Thai ID cards? I doubt it... you were definitely targeted.

But apart from the inconvenience you should be OK. Porn isn't illegal in the US, although if you had been caught with the same stuff at the Thai customs you'd have been in a heap of trouble!

[Drift Spunk]

That's why you back up on a micro SD card and shove it in your pee hole

I mainly get searched for drugs and explosives "randomly" only when I fly to Sydney....

[Tomcat]

If you fly regular and often you get this shit even in the UK. A few years back i had the clowns looking through some Video tapes i brought back ...then the toothpaste.. then the drug machine ( the blower)....I dont know if its random but its a pain in the arse...

[D33]

(Stogie @ Dec. 26 2008,13:43) You said it was 'random' but the meticulous way they went through your stuff suggests that actually it was not and that you were targeted.

Did they suddenly become familiar with Thai ID cards? I doubt it... you were definitely targeted.

But apart from the inconvenience you should be OK. Porn isn't illegal in the US, although if you had been caught with the same stuff at the Thai customs you'd have been in a heap of trouble!

It was random. They had about 8 people they were doing this to, all from the same flight. They said directly that they were looking for child porn coming from Thailand.

They only knew about the ID cards because they started looking at the content and saying things like, "she looks 16, how old is she?" which at that point I had to clue them in on everything and showed them the IDs and explained how they worked. At that point they went file by file through each of them and checked the IDs on every one of them.

Here is the kicker... porn is LEGAL in the USA but US Customs has the right to stop anything they feel is obscene from entering the country, even though "obscenity" has yet to be defined by US law, they (Homeland Security) are above that law. So "immoral" and "obscene" material can be taken from you as you enter the USA. It's printed on your immigration form that such material is "generally" not allowed into the USA.

So sure, if you don't mind several hours of your time eaten up, enjoy yourself if they pull you over and start looking at your shit. Just hope you don't have anyone who looks underage to THEM without an ID or you may be up shits creek without a paddle.

[johnlbx]

(Stogie @ Dec. 25 2008,23:43) But apart from the inconvenience you should be OK. Porn isn't illegal in the US, although if you had been caught with the same stuff at the Thai customs you'd have been in a heap of trouble!

There's a big difference in your rights while in the US vrs your rights while trying to get into the US.
 You can't have your possessions searched without probable cause while in the US but you can while entering the country.
 Most porn is legal inside the US however the regulations under which US Customs works specifically prohibit bringing porn into the country.    While they are looking for child porn in particular just know that if you are caught with any porn and they don't like your attitude they have the legal right to make things bad for you.

[Stogie]

I'll bet no women were stopped during this 'random search!'

[manarak]

This can get some ppl in trouble, especially when traveling from other countries with different laws.

I would like to know what would happen to a guy transiting through the US to get to Switzerland?
The legal age is 16 over here.

[jadeite]

(Stogie @ Dec. 26 2008,15:34) I'll bet no women were stopped during this 'random search!'

Exactly! These are not random searches. Just look at the people who get pulled--males travelling alone as far as I have seen. Customs are watching for things and have a set of around a dozen traits to decide to pull a person for scrutiny. Look nervous? Wetting your lips? Those are some of the things. I've been bag searched a number of times going to the US, but they always seem to be looking for drugs and have not looked at any camera/computer stuff as of yet. In my observation, their selection criteria is a failure because (a) lots of the stuff gets through and (b) they spend a huge amount of time searching the same innocent people over and over.

[TopDog]

This happened a few years ago.  I was in between jobs when I took a trip to Thailand and when I went through US Customs on the return they asked what I did for a living.  Without thinking I told them I was unemployed.  Has to be one of my all time dumbest responses.  After seeing the look on the agents face I knew I was fucked.  Was sent immediately to a private room where I was stripped searched.  Obviously in this case their concern was drugs and not porn.  The good news is I've taken maybe 10 trips to Thailand since this happened and have zipped through customs every time.

[LadyboyCrush]

Happened to me too a few years ago... In Los Angeles.... I had my Cameras, laptop, several hard drives... they looked through my computer, watched the video tapes, etc... didnt ask for releases... they had their shit together though.. When they saw my computer they actually called over "their Macintosh guy"... Anyway, after looking through everything and saying I was good to go, they said all they were looking for was underage stuff....

Ya, wasn't fun to be sure... but I was treated well, and really cannot complain because they could've been total asses if they wanted to be...

[EyeMahk]

It is a good practice to:

1) For any photos of girls/LBs/nightlife/etc. you have taken, you should ZIP them up and send them to yourself electronically, then delete the original (Rapidshare is great for this, only you have the link for the .ZIP file you created)

2) If you have an archive of boring pics you took on previous trips, make sure it is also on a hard drive at home, then delete these files before entering the US.

3) Empty your recycle bin and use the simple program CIPHER (on XP) to overwrite all free space on your drive

4) Have a boatload of "clean" pictures on your camera's memory card so you can show customs how wonderful your vacation was. You can use pics from past trips if you change the dates in the EXIF files (using tools like JPGTime and JPGDateChanger - google them).

US Customs can "image" your laptop if they want. Don't give them a reason to want to.

[JaiDee]

not sure why one acronym hasn't been mentioned here yet; FTP

Be careful out there, D .... send everything to a secure place, delete, and don't travel with that crap

[johnnydiver]

A new television program is coming online that shows of the US Customs Service. Right now it is the same stuff. Drugs, illegals and so but watch out when the media can sensationalize coming home with porn on your computer! you will made the six oclock news!

[SamplerDoc]

All those prevention tips are great advice gents and keep in mind, none of the searches are random...None