ALKHOBAR: On Saturday, Arab News ran a front-page story titled, “Travelers to US should leave their laptops at home.” The article discussed the fact that US federal agents may take a traveler’s laptop or other electronic device to an off-site location for examination and copying, even if there is no indication of wrongdoing and that the information on the digital device may be shared.
It was an interesting article, but not earth-shattering. Like it or not, the customs and security officials of any government can examine any item brought through their borders and they don’t need a reason to snoop. Take one unfortunate Saudi, Khalid Al-Harbi, who at the end of May decided to go on a business trip to a nearby friendly Arab nation. Too bad for him that his name was the same as another man on that nation’s terrorist watch list. Khalid Al-Harbi is a common Saudi name, similar to John Smith in the West. Without any evidence that he was the terrorist, Al-Harbi, the businessman, was taken into custody and all his belongings, including his digital devices were confiscated.
He was released after 24 hours of interrogation at several different detention facilities and it was only at the time of his release that his electronics were returned to him. Since he had been forced to activate the devices before they were confiscated, he was certain that their contents had at least been examined, if not copied. Al-Harbi was never offered any apology or compensation for the ordeal. In fact, he was almost detained again upon leaving the country as his name had not been removed from the watch list. If such an incident can happen to a Saudi in the Arab world, what is the likelihood of even more aggressive treatment at the borders of other nations?
Customs authorities the world over are generally interested in examining digital devices in the possession of travelers from the Kingdom because Saudi Arabia has a well publicized problem with digital piracy. Pirated software, music, games and movies are readily available in the Kingdom, and countries that enforce copyright regulations are delighted to confiscate the pirated digital material and in some cases, the device where it’s stored — as well as slap on a fine for good measure.
Take my advice. When you travel, leave at home the digital devices that you use every day. I’ve done so for the last four years and it has worked out better than I ever imagined. My desire to avoid airport incidents was triggered when I was caught up in a nasty situation in 2002. My laptop was switched on at Jeddah’s King Abdul Aziz International Airport security and a thumbnail photo of the most famous terrorist on the planet became visible on my desktop. At the time, I had been doing research in regards to an article and had saved quite a bit of information to my machine. It took a lot of explaining to convince security officials that I was a harmless passenger.
You might think you can erase data saved to your notebook or other electronic device, but short of replacing the hard drive or other memory, that is very tough to do. It is far easier to have a travel kit that you only use on the road. That can include a cheap notebook, MP3 or DVD player — but make sure to save only legal, innocuous files on the devices. Personally, the only electronic device that travels with me is a mobile handset.
I have a special phone that is only for overseas trips. It has no personal data inside. I store anything I might need — including essential parts of my address book — at an online storage site. There are many to choose from including Xdrive, Box.net, DropBoks, eSnips, MediaMax, OmniDrive and Openomy. If I absolutely must carry certain files with me I save them to a CD or a flash memory stick — backing them up at the online storage site just in case they get lost or confiscated. I also save all reservations and confirmations in my online e-mail so they can be accessed anywhere. Some of my friends use remote PC access. Check out the topic through www.remotepcaccess.net. On the rare occasions when I absolutely had to have a notebook, and using the hotel’s business center or an Internet cafe would not do, I rented a PC. Check the Internet for computer rentals in the area you’ll be visiting as prices and available equipment varies.
Photos taken with a digital camera are a trickier proposition. I usually upload all the essential ones to my online storage vault or e-mail. Sometimes I transfer them to CD and mail them home. I don’t travel with my SLR digital camera. It would be too expensive to lose. I have a much smaller backup camera to take on the road. In the event of a security scare, passengers aren’t allowed to take any electronic devices onboard a plane. In such a situation electronics go as checked baggage and they aren’t insured by the airline. So make sure that any digital device that travels with you could be lost without too much pain.
One last note, I am very careful to keep the flash memory sticks I use for work completely separate from those that I take on trips. If I am in any doubt as to what has been saved in the past to a memory stick, it stays at home. Leave the 8GB flash drive in your desk drawer and take a new 1GB flash drive with you.
I am not a terrorist or a criminal but those labels are sometimes applied strangely. The goal here is to have no regrets. If a customs or security officer wants my electronics, I can turn them over with no fear and if they aren’t returned, I don’t care.
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