ONE MORE THING

One more thing about the TSA laptop search program. Critics keep suggesting that it's not very well thought out, since anyone who wants to sent dangerous information into the United States could just use the Internet to do so. But, as the motto around here says: Never attribute to stupidity what can be blamed on malice.

It is important to the authorities that they be perceived as stupid and ineffective by the mass population. That way, they can do what they like but still hide their sinister motives behind a smokescreen of idiocy. If we assume a basic level of competence at the TSA's decisionmaking level, then we can make some educated guesses about the laptop seizure program:

Case 1: If the stated goal of the laptop program is true, the senders and receivers of dangerous information either can not or will not use the Internet to send certain types of information. The only reason for that is that they are afraid the information will be captured. Which means that there is a high likelihood that your traffic is being captured.

Case 2: The stated goal is a smokescreen. They are looking for something else. But what? Something that isn't likely to be transferred over the Internet (or by FedEx, for that matter). Something that people are likely to carry, but is not available in any government database. It could be that they simply want to have a look around, just to see what kind of stuff people keep on their hard drives, and arresting any low-hanging fruits (stumbled-upon illicit pornography, for example).

We just can't be sure: What are they looking for?

Another question: What are they leaving behind?

BELATED PARANOIA

The fact that the TSA can seize any American citizen's laptop for any reason, indefinitely, could have repercussions for all Internet data transactions that enter or leave the country as well. So says Steven M. Bellovin.

Could have? This surveillance is already happening.

Internet traffic is aggregated at hundreds of different choke points as it makes its way from your computer to the remote servers you're trying to access. If China can filter all of the Internet traffic that enters their country, then you must concede that it is at least possible for another country to monitor their own.

The U.S.A. does not necessarily filter its net traffic. The strategy, as ever, is to give people enough rope to hang themselves. This is what they are doing, and probably have been doing for years. Without a doubt, every page you've looked at and every email you've sent or received, is archived in some giant data store somewhere.

Or do you think it's a coincidence that storage, and search technology are two of the fastest growing segments of the IT sector?