Australia: Travellers to be Searched for Porn
May 20th, 2010Via: The Age:
Australian customs officers have been given new powers to search incoming travellers’ laptops and mobile phones for pornography, a spokeswoman for the Australian sex industry says.
Fiona Patten, president of the Australian Sex Party, is demanding an inquiry into why a new question appears on Incoming Passenger Cards asking people if they are carrying “pornography”.
Patten said officials now had an unfettered right to examine travellers’ electronic devices, marking the beginning of a new era of official investigation into people’s private lives. She questioned whether it was appropriate to search people for legal R18+ and X18+ material.
Research Credit: B
Posted in Dictatorship | Top Of Page
One wonders what would happen if one had some racy pics of one’s own wife on one’s laptop (encrypted of course)…
CryingFreeman: Encryption isn’t enough if there are laws that say you have to decrypt it or hand over the keys, or if the presence of encryption makes it suspicious in the eyes of officials. Encryption + steganography may be your best bet.
I wonder what they’ll do if they find any pictures. If they’re legal, then surely all they could do was say “Ok, you’ve got porn. Welcome to Australia.”
So what’s the point?
@ Bloodnok: I wonder what the reaction would be if one were to say, “I refuse to decrypt because there are pictures of my wife that you have no business to view”… Could that perchance be used as a valid reason to refuse to comply, or would the airport nazis conjure up a justification to force your hand? My money is on the latter.
And BTW, does anyone know of open source steganography?