Digital Papers Please: New Reports of TSA Searching Computers and Cellphones for DOMESTIC Flights

By Nicholas West

Despite being roundly hated by the traveling public, the TSA continues to trample upon anyone unfortunate enough to cross their path. Whether it is the physical searches that are sometimes tantamount to sex crimes, or forcing foreign travelers to take books, magazines and food out of their bags for inspection, there seems to be no end in sight for how far they are willing step.

Naturally, tyrants don’t know the definition of limits, so we are seeing the TSA embark on a new level of their invasion. Sadly, a portion of the American public still believes that being an American citizen will protect them from having to encounter the security measures that are “necessary” to protect their freedom from the never-ending threat of an imminent terror attack by “the others.” Unfortunately, history shows that when mistreatment is permitted for those others, it will inevitably show up on your doorstep as well.

Activist Post and others previously have reported about the increase in electronic device searches for flights entering or leaving the United States. After a recent Freedom of Information Request, it was revealed that thousands of travelers per month have been subjected to these warrantless requests for personal information. Of that number, 80% are estimated to be foreigners, which still leaves a troubling number of American citizens who had their Constitution suspended.

Now, however, an exclusive report from the Guardian seems to indicate that even the pretense of preventing a foreign terror attack is being done away with as internal U.S. flight travelers are reporting the same warrantless requests to inspect their digital devices. These findings have spurred the ACLU of Northern California to file a new lawsuit against the TSA:

“We’ve received reports of passengers on purely domestic flights having their phones and laptops searched, and the takeaway is that TSA has been taking these items from people without providing any reason why,” the staff attorney Vasudha Talla told the Guardian. “The search of an electronic device has the potential to be highly invasive and cover the most personal details about a person.”

A TSA spokesman, Matt Leas, declined to comment on the lawsuit but said: “TSA does not search the contents of electronic devices.”

While admittedly, the complaints thus far are limited to “a handful of cases,” the stories that have been released so far seem to match what his known to have happened to international travelers.

One woman who shared her story with the ACLU told the Guardian that in the last year, she had twice had her electronics searched while flying within California. The 64-year-old, who works in the not-for-profit sector and requested anonymity for fear that she could face further scrutiny from TSA, said that on one occasion last year, TSA agents pulled her aside to pat her down multiple times and eventually asked to see both her iPhones – a work and personal one.

The agents did not ask her to unlock the phones, but took them for at least 10 minutes out of her view, she said, adding that she quickly became distraught.

“I no longer had my phones, so there was no one I could contact,” she said, adding, “It just feels like an invasion of privacy, especially when they are not telling you what the problem is.”

The woman said on a recent trip, the TSA also briefly took her laptop, which was password protected.

“If somebody is suspecting you of doing something wrong or some kind of crime, you should be told what it is. You should be able to defend yourself,” she added.

Given the fact that both the TSA and the ever-expanding policies for border searches to this point already have been called unconstitutional and are affecting people in greater numbers, it would be unwise to outright dismiss these latest claims. Combined with TSA secrecy and various new high-tech initiatives, including biometric scans, and the slope is getting more treacherous by the day.

In 2015, CBP conducted 5,000 searches of electronic devices in airports – a number that increased to 30,000 searches last year, the ACLU noted.

In October 2017, the TSA announced it would be heightening screening procedures of domestic passengers’ devices, including tablets and e-readers, but it has not released any policies or procedures governing these searches, the ACLU said.

The ACLU said it had received no response to its public records requests sent in December 2017, forcing the group to file the lawsuit, which is seeking fairly basic policy documents.

This latest development would be concerning enough were it contained to air travel. However, as Derrick Broze recently reported, the TSA is now rolling out its activities in major train stations, leaving very few people immune from their expanding violations.

I will leave readers with some sound advice from the foremost expert on Technocracy, Patrick M. Wood:

The Technocrats at the TSA don’t care one iota about the 4th Amendment which states, “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.” What is unclear about this? If you are challenged, simply tell them ‘No’ and let them arrest you – then charge them with false imprisonment and violation of your Constitutionally guaranteed rights.

Without establishing a line in the sand, it appears that the TSA will continue to expand its violations of both body and mind.

Nicholas West writes for Activist Post. Support us at Patreon. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Steemit, and BitChute. Ready for solutions? Subscribe to our premium newsletter Counter Markets.


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19 Comments on "Digital Papers Please: New Reports of TSA Searching Computers and Cellphones for DOMESTIC Flights"

  1. have my daughter living in NC, was planning to visit her Christmas 2001 ?? We know what has happened previously & the enrollment of morons goons a.k.a. TSA ??
    told my daughter,when thing will return to normal, I will visit her ??
    Well up to now, it’s postponed sine die ??
    I keep my money here & they can keep their brainless morons TSA to themselves ??
    BTW instead had holidays in Vietnam … Fantastic time had over-there ??

  2. My father, my last parent, died in ’07, I haven’t taken a plane since then! I remember being in shock and asked to throw my water bottle out before getting on the plane!
    I just can’t take the indignity of it all. This is only to benefit Chernoff and for him to continue to make profits!!!!!!!!! Name ONE terrorist that has been caught? Name how many TSA employees have you heard of who either steal your stuff or trying to do something to you perverted or sadistic while you are in their “grips”! ‘

    Now days, I go by train. I’m considering contracting with an international freighter if I want to travel internationally. I won’t be a part of any of this!!!!!!!!

  3. lightingstrikesthrice | March 14, 2018 at 10:44 am |

    Is anyone surprised? Hell, people need to stand up and take matters into their own hands. Like, when the useful idiots of the TSA pull their bs, the people then grab the ‘agents’ and place them under citizen arrest. Pipe dream perhaps, but it would work. Same with any ‘law enforcement’. But, that said, we have been under ‘national security’ and ‘crisis’ since 1973. All a president has to do is mention a ‘crisis’, a ‘disaster’, a ‘war’, an ‘attack’, and so on and so forth, what ever the play of words is, and then we are under ‘national security’, and that means suspension of the ‘constitution’ and ‘liberties(not rights, folks, the 14th Amendment abolished what was left of those not We The People(note the caps distinction)) and under basically martial law. Plus, every city, county, state, and the Fed are bankrupted corporations in debt to private banking families. Distinctly the IMF of the UN. So, yeah, until people physically stop this nonsense, it will only worsen to the point of no return. Where, there is no more outs left. That will be soon, in my assessment.

    • It will be to no avail to attempt to invoke the restrictions imposed by the Bill of Rights that was added by amendment to the constitution for the united states of America in 1791. That covenant ceased to exist when the federal government established by the ratification of that covenant broke up in 1861. From March 27, 1861 through April 14, 1861, there was no government here at all. On April 15, 1861 Abraham Lincoln, the elected president of a nation that then no longer existed, issued Executive Order No. 1. That order declared martial law, and had the effect of declaring a military dictatorship. It also called a congress (the United States Congress that was elected in November of 1860 had adjourned sine die and gone back to their home nation states) to convene on July 4, 1861, and ordered the Union Army to bring them in if they didn’t come voluntarily. Lincoln had no authority do do any of this, constitutionally or otherwise, and he knew that. He also knew that most people will follow along if someone forcefully takes charge, and that few people, even back then, understood what the effect of secession really was. The military dictatorship governed this country until February 23, 1871. No “amendment” that was “ratified” during that period, or since, applies to the organic constitution for the united states of America. The constitutional government that that document created, a republic, formed by the 33 nations that agreed, and ratified a covenant, to give certain powers common to all nations, and ONLY THOSE POWERS, to the federal government and to not exercise certain other powers of nations; all of which are explicitly written in the constitution, no longer existed. On February 23, 1871 the congress formed under the military dictatorship, which included members from the former Confederate States of America that were there at the point of Union Army guns, created and the dictator, Ulysses S. Grant, signed into “law” a private municipal corporation that, with its two successor corporations, have been the de facto government ever since. All three of these corporations, including the present one went bankrupt. The current corporation, with Trump the chief trustee, or administrator, filed Chapter 11 in 1933. The International Monetary Fund is the receiver. The upshot of this is – we HAVE NO RIGHTS as a matter of fact. We have no constitution, and haven’t had one for 157 years. That is the fact; what we are living in is the DELUSION!

      • lightingstrikesthrice | March 25, 2018 at 9:20 am |

        I completely concur. Why it is called The Matrix. Governments are created by criminals. Primitive minded psychopaths who believe in sovereignty and hierarchy. If this continues, the human race and most life on this planet will cease to exist.

  4. lightingstrikesthrice | March 14, 2018 at 10:46 am |

    Read through my discussions and posts and see what you think.

    • I like your writing style. What kind of things are you passionate about? Would you be interested in writing an article or 2 a week for AnonPin? There is no compensation as of right now but later down the road as traffic picks up and we are able to monetize it, I will compensate the people who were there helping us grow.

  5. lightingstrikesthrice | March 14, 2018 at 10:48 am |

    To say the least. I’m sure there are intelligence requirements involved. Just like the cops. The lower the better.

  6. so get a metal card one can put in their wallet or purse with the bill of rights printed on it, when the metal detector alarm goes off, give the card to the attendant so they can read the ten amendments for the first time

  7. Fix your computer before you get to the airport so they can’t download anything. disable your USB ports in the BIOS and then password protect the BIOS.
    encrypt sensitive info and hide it in programs like Microsoft secure office, or in hidden partitions like True Crypt and yes I know it is reported the True Crypt encryption is not secure. Use old obscure legacy programs like Microsoft Secure Office that imbeds documents within each other and requires the other document to access it. Then remove the parent program needed to open the container, document, file etc. The best idea is to ship your laptop thru the mail without a hard drive then ship the hard drive separate. Or buy a USB device called an Iron Key which uses high level hardware encryption and is FIPS certified for the storage of up to Secret material, it can’t be beaten with software and you only have 10 tries at the password before it locks and flashes the memory. Iron Keys can also have the entire operating system on it so no trace of your computer activities show up on your computer.
    Federal law allows them to demand you decrypt any encryption they find, but that won’t work if they can’t find the file. Iron Key is destroyed after 10 unsuccessful tries, so enter your password wrong 9 times before you get to the airport, then when or if they demand you give them the password, give them a wrong one and the information is irretrievably gone. Of course you had better have backed up your data some where else out of reach. I can assure you, that if neither you, or anyone else will ever see your data on a Iron Key if you enter the pass word wrong 10 times, the counting starts the first time you enter it wrong and it does not reset until you enter it correctly. And the manufacturer of the devise can’t help you, or the government recover any data on it.

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