Australian Customs Officials Will Search Your Laptop For cough

[hazel]

This would present an interesting situation. I am in a similar situation to you, carrying information on my laptop for which I have signed "Non-Disclosure Agreements". Can you imagine if a Customs Officer saw documents that detailed plans to outsource customs activities (purely hypothetical example as I cannot confirm nor deny any plans for such actions do or do not exist on my laptop).

So perhaps we just need to draft and each carry a legally binding non-disclosure agreement that we require the customs officers to sign before providing access to the computer.

I have no issue with them inspecting anything I bring into the country. I am only concerned that I would be breaking the legally binding non-disclosure agreements that I have signed. So long as I am assured of being relieved of my legal obligations for non-disclosure, then they can go ahead and look at anything they like. After all, my employer has the right to inspect anything on my laptop and if they found anything questionable I would be in more trouble than I am willing to risk.

.

Wouldn't this be covered under the Customs Administration Act where officers are prevented from disclosing information that comes to their knowledge while performing their duties?

 

[Mal]

Aside from the fact that they have now started asking the question on a form, have their powers actually changed? I was under the impression that they could always have stopped material that, for example, had been refused classification.

I don't believe so. Customs has been doing forensics on mobile phones and laptops for at least a few years. They've also been searching physical baggage for many, many years!

 

[NM]

Most customs agencies have a fully equipped IT forensics team available on call (and in the case of Customs in Australia, I believe most staff are able to do basic forensics when required). Perhaps you should be having that discussion with your company right now - as chances are at some stage the laptop will be searched.

Australia is no different to the UK, the U.S, and parts of Asia. If they want to inspect a laptop, they have the resources required.

Perhaps you need to investigate storing your "confidential" documents on a work server and only carrying a vanilla corporate OS with VPN access back to work. That's how a lot of road warriers deal with the threat.

Indeed there are options ... and if there was something super-sensitive then it could be done as you describe. Thankfully none of the information I carry is THAT sensitive, bit I expect some people do.

All I want to know is that I my obligations under the non-disclosure agreements are waived if the computer is required for inspection by Customs (in Australia or any other country). In reality, there is nothing there that is so secret that it should not be seen by a customs officer doing their job. If they had a relative that worked for an organisation referenced in some confidential document and they disclosed the information to them, then I expect the Customs officer would be breaching their own employment conditions. So long as I am not held legally responsible for the disclosure under such circumstances, then I am happy to comply with any legally correct access to my data - there is nothing there that would be of interest to them anyway and they would just be wasting their time and mine.

Just to make it clear, I have no real issues with the additional question being added to the inbound declaration card and I believe Customs have always had the right to search for things like illegal material in electronic form anyway.

 

[hazel]

I am all for preventing child coughography but the article mentioned in the OP specifically makes mention of (all) coughography including the homemade variety made by consenting adults in a committed relationship.

The Classification Board define coughographic & objectionable material as:
Includes computer games, computer generated images, films, interactive games and publications that describe, depict, express or otherwise deal with matters of sex, drug misuse or addiction, crime cruelty, violence, terrorist acts or revolting or abhorrent phenomena in such a way that they offend against the standards of morality, decency and propriety generally accepted by reasonable adults.

This is also the definition that Customs use. I'm guessing if someone has pictures on their laptop that are similar to what is in an unrestricted 'adult' magazine then it's OK.

 

[Harry G]

bringing in a movie of the old vertical tango I really think you have nothing to be afraid of.........
every port carries a watch list of "known" filth........rock spiders.whatever you want to call them.......and they are the target!

actually would be great to paint a bulls eye on their backs!

 

[Harry G]

and whilst I think of it......
someone mentioned "ALL" coughography.....
guess the Government has to be politically correct and sweep up everbody not just particular "groups" so to speak.........otherwise the class actions will have a field day!

 

[blueflamenco]

I am all for preventing child coughography but the article mentioned in the OP specifically makes mention of (all) coughography including the homemade variety made by consenting adults in a committed relationship.

This new law is a gross invasion of privacy (and by the way I have nothing to hide) and stinks of the "Big Brother" attitude that is creeping into society.


I am a taxpaying Australian who can go on holidays wherever or whenever I want. I should not be labelled a criminal when I return to my country because of some silly profiling program that is clearly wrong.

How about single (or married) females going to Bali or coughet as a group?

The article mentioned in the OP has a very one sided approach. I guarantee you no-one cares about what sex tapes you made on your holidays or what nude pictures you carry of your girlfriend on your phone. Customs are looking for one thing - illegal coughography.

Yes, they say all coughography but you should be able to read between the lines. If you have legal coughography it is handed back. If you have illegal coughography it is not.

Like the food question. Do they really care if you have some Reeses Peanut Butter Cups or a stick of rock from the UK? No. They care about certain types of food - but if you carry any food you need to say so. Do you cause a kerfuffle about that? Does this impede upon your freedom?

Whats the big deal? Who is carrying around homemade sex tapes anyway? Who even makes home made sex tapes?! Or don't I want to know..

You are not labelled a criminal. Customs simply checked your phone. Perhaps you are not deviant but others like you may be and it's unfortunate for you that on arrival into Australia you are lumped in with those individuals. But that's how things work.

What about single or married females going to Bali? I don't understand what is meant by this.

 

[NM]

Yes, they say all coughography but you should be able to read between the lines. If you have legal coughography it is handed back. If you have illegal coughography it is not.

Like the food question. Do they really care if you have some Reeses Peanut Butter Cups or a stick of rock from the UK? No. They care about certain types of food - but if you carry any food you need to say so. Do you cause a kerfuffle about that? Does this impede upon your freedom?

And just like with food, if you declare it and its deemed inappropriate, I expect it would be confiscated and you are free to enter the country. If yo don't declare it and its found, expect to be fined as well as lose the item.

 

[JohnK]

What about single or married females going to Bali? I don't understand what is meant by this.

What do they do in Bali, coughet, Koh Samet or Koh Samui? Should I spell out the details or is subtlety enough?

It's not good when the stereotyping (or profiling) is the other way around is it? But we are getting off topic again.

 

[anat0l]

What about single or married females going to Bali? I don't understand what is meant by this.

I believe Bali is one of the popular haunts for sex tourism for single females. Either that or drug running (Schapelle Corby anyone?)

You are not labelled a criminal.

Perhaps not on paper and in a court it would be argued on face value as such, but in actual sense you are essentially branded and treated as one until convincingly proven not to be.

I must say that I absolutely hate the use of the word reasonable in written law, with a passion. It is unclear, absolutely stupid way to write a law which is supposed to dictate exactly how people are meant to live.

If customs want to really be consistent then everyone would need full background security checks to enter and exit the country. All of your belongings entering and exiting would be screened and catalogued. Outgoing procedures would take about 1 hour; incoming procedures would take about 4 hours per person, and you might have to come back within a week for a follow-up inspection.

Holy s***, there's a lot of money to be made there by "security professionals":!:

 

[harvyk]

Wouldn't this be covered under the Customs Administration Act where officers are prevented from disclosing information that comes to their knowledge while performing their duties?

There is certainly privacy laws which the officer would have to abide by, however should the customs officer accidentally say something which they saw, then it puts me at risk of being sued for breach of privacy, and at a minimum could destroy my relationships with my customers.

bringing in a movie of the old vertical tango I really think you have nothing to be afraid of.........
every port carries a watch list of "known" filth........rock spiders.whatever you want to call them.......and they are the target!

actually would be great to paint a bulls eye on their backs!

I agree, personally I would like such people who put children at risk to have it tattooed all over their face so you could spot them from 100 meters away.

That said, using customs to look for incoming cough on laptops won't actually protect a child, and it's worse than looking for a needle in a haystack, as you have to randomly pick the right person, and then find amounts 10's of thousands of files the exact material, assuming they haven't encrypted it, and assuming they haven't done something else to hide it, and assuming the material is actually on the laptop they have taken with them and it's not sitting on a hard drive back at home.

There is a quote by Benjamin Franklin which I think fits this story perfectly - "Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty or safety" basically we are giving up our rights to keep our data private under the guise of "protecting children" however the people who are interested in harming children will see this as a minor roadblock if anything at all.

 

[UP4014]

(not too mention why would I go at all, it would be cheaper to join the local Catholic church!)

For the record, no offence taken at all.

 

[rambisyouth]

I think the attitude of some people here is a bit precious. Every single day innocent people get searched at airports, questioned by police and breath tested on the road.

I agree they should be polite and professional about it, but other than that I think there's an overreaction here.

 

[rwatts]

Whats the big deal? Who is carrying around homemade sex tapes anyway? Who even makes home made sex tapes?! Or don't I want to know..

Some years ago I was doing the computer examinations as part of an "inappropriate internet use" case. The material identified from the internet logs was fairly low grade and the file system analysis supported this. It would have been just a formal warning.

It was only when I went scraping the unallocated clusters for JPEG headers that we got a surprise - tens of thousands of hard core images. When I stepped through them sequentially I realised they were individual frames from a movie. Holding the space-bar down in Encase was quite effective in making the movie watchable (I'm sure Mal is familiar with Encase). All the "required elements" (think gymnastic routines) of your standard amateur cough movie were present.

Unfortunately I recognised the participants from some of the "legitimate" images found earlier - wedding photos in Asia, playing with his kids, etc.

So yes, people certainly do carry around homemade sex movies, and even keep them on work computers (at least temporarily).

As for how savvy most CP suspects are. It's the naive ones that get busted - commonly the spouse finds the material or the tech at the local computer shop. The hardcore perpetrators are extremely sophisticated and are not going to be found by customs inspections. At least publicising such inspections might reduce the demand for the material though.

Richard.

 

[Archphoto]

I wonder what the ratio of women vs men being checked is?

Only ask as it seems (so far form this post) that it has all been men being stopped - and has anyone here actually ticked the "yes" box and that was why they got stopped?

 

[blueflamenco]

What do they do in Bali, coughet, Koh Samet or Koh Samui? Should I spell out the details or is subtlety enough?

It's not good when the stereotyping (or profiling) is the other way around is it? But we are getting off topic again.

Well, you learn something new every day! I had never heard of female sex tourism. I had no idea there was a demand for it, how ignorant of me.

Stereotyping serves a purpose. We all do it, professionals use it. It's nothing new and nothing to take offense to.

 

[blueflamenco]

I wonder what the ratio of women vs men being checked is?

Only ask as it seems (so far form this post) that it has all been men being stopped - and has anyone here actually ticked the "yes" box and that was why they got stopped?

What is the ratio of women child sex predators to men?

 

[blueflamenco]

That said, using customs to look for incoming cough on laptops won't actually protect a child, and it's worse than looking for a needle in a haystack, as you have to randomly pick the right person, and then find amounts 10's of thousands of files the exact material, assuming they haven't encrypted it, and assuming they haven't done something else to hide it, and assuming the material is actually on the laptop they have taken with them and it's not sitting on a hard drive back at home.

I disagree. While I agree that it seems like an inefficient process and there will be many scumbags who find ways to get around it there is still the chance that one will be caught. To me one less predator could mean one child who goes unharmed. That's worth it.

 

[anat0l]

Stereotyping serves a purpose. We all do it, professionals use it. It's nothing new and nothing to take offense to.

As said in Up in the Air

I'm like my mother, I stereotype. It's faster.

Unfortunately, it's socially awkward if not unacceptable. You might think it's nothing to take offense to but you have to concede that many people, unlike perhaps you and me, choose to turn a stereotype into prejudice. Then we have some serious problems.

 

[ejb]

I disagree. While I agree that it seems like an inefficient process and there will be many scumbags who find ways to get around it there is still the chance that one will be caught. To me one less predator could mean one child who goes unharmed. That's worth it.

Then the KRudd spin machine has won. Look like we are doing something while actually doing nothing. This measure and the ISP filter are just to win votes from people who do not understand what really goes on.

If you think that asking people if they have cough on them will protect children from abuse you are kidding yourself. Worldwide agencies have had tremendous results using covert methods to infiltrate and close these networks down.

ejb