For those who travel to and from the United States, I thought it would be useful to re-visit the revised DHS guidelines announced August 27, 2009. This article from the Canadian Bar Association sums it up very well. To quote them directly:
"U.S. Customs officers have the authority to search and detain any
device capable of storing electronic information for any reason; they
can examine the electronic device without the traveller present; they
can copy from the device or “detain” the device; and they do not need
to obtain the traveller’s consent to conduct the search. “Electronic
devices” can include computers, BlackBerrys or similar devices, cell
phones, travel drives, DVDs and CD-ROMs, cameras, music and other
electronic media players."
Two things: 1) Yes, they use two 'ls' in the word 'traveller' in Canada, and 2) I wonder how many execs at your firm know about these rules?
