Customs wanting passwords: Why Search Warrants Are An Important Democratic Protection.

The whole notion of our individual inalienable rights, including to be left alone by the state if we are harming no one, was such a quaint one, but still, I liked it. So now we find New Zealand Customs want the right to demand the passwords of our laptops, tablets, et al, as we are slowed further into bottlenecks from getting in or out of our airports while officials look at our family snaps, testicles and boobs on the teenagers devices, and for we grownups, our private documents. They don’t plan to have a warrant, and their wish is for three month detention, jail, for those of us who rightly will tell them to bugger* off. Worse:

Customs says it wants to move with the times and align our law with "comparable countries, such as Australia, the US, Canada and the UK." It sees inspecting an electronic device potentially becoming part of a routine bag search.

Apparently, we have to join the Big Brother Police State club in all its abuses.

And once the principle will be created, as it inevitably will be, there is nothing left. Why aren’t we, for example, compelled to leave our house keys with a state official each day as we go to work so they can inspect our premises to make sure our conduct and chattels are to the state’s approval; hell, there might even be a few of ‘those’ plants out back that though legal in an increasing part of the enlightened world, aren’t still in this kindy of a country.

And what’s so special about Customs? If they think it in the nation's common-good that Big Brother State inspect what’s on our hard disks, then along with the WOF for the car, why not a mandatory annual check by a government department of all our information storage devices? Indeed, Orwell has it right: just plug each house into the State mainframe. There’s plenty of departments that can line up with expertise and experience: Customs, Internal Affairs, GCSB, IRD … There is no difference between this and mandatorily inspecting my hard disk at the airport; other than resources required, the principle is identical.

Whether the officials like it or not, the requirement of them having to get a court issued search warrant is a crucial process protecting the freedoms of a democracy: however, IRD no longer require them for work-place raids, yes, raids, and haven't for a long time; Customs now want out of requiring them so they can turn computer harddisk searches into routine ... see what's happening here? We are losing basic freedoms, because we are losing basic protections from the state, due only to convenience for the bureaucrats; that evil word governments use to increase their power over us, pragmatism.

And the hilarious thing: most Kiwis won’t even realise how appalling this is.

I hate these bureaucratic bastards: all of them. And ZB’s Larry Williams can go to hell also on this one.

(* Please note bottom of this post for why I swear in my blog so much nowadays.)