
At 7:21 PM 1/15/96, Simon Spero wrote:
When I was a student and had long hair, I used to always get questioned when going throught customs. After graduating, and having normal length hair, I had a lot less trouble. Long serving customs officers develop models of characteristics that in the past have been indicative of smuggling or wrong doing. Given that most points of entry are under-staffed, there's not much else they can do.
I was returning from France and Monte Carlo, where I'd given a talk about crypto anarchy, through U.S. Customs at San Francisco. Having just heard of Matt Blaze's experiences, I figured I'd be truthful and see what happened. (I can't recall the exact words, naturally, so this is just a rough version. Things were uncrowded at the Customs gate, and I was the only one in his line, in case it matters.) Young Customs Officer (YCO): "Where are you coming from?" Me: "Monte Carlo. And France." YCO: "Business or pleasure?" Me: "Business." YCO: "What was the business?" Me: "I met with cryptographers and bankers to discuss cryptography and political implications." YCO: " 'Cryptography'? " (A look of no comprehension.) Me: "Yes, cryptography. You know, secret codes, ciphers, stuff like that." YCO: "Were there any foreigners present?" Me: "Yes, it was in Monte Carlo. There were some Russians there, and lots of others." YCO: [brief pause] "Did you bring anything back with you?" Me: "No." YCO: [waved me through] In my carry-on luggage I had half a dozen magneto-optical disks, carring about a gigabyte of stuff. (As props to use during my talk on the France/Monte Carlo side, ironically, to show that borders are fully transparent.) By the way, there were no outgoing checks [unlike Matt, I didn't seek out permission to export anything], of course, and no checks at my entry point at De Gaulle Airport in Paris. [Though there were lots of cops with machine guns, and lots of dire warnings that bags left unattended might be destroyed, a precaution against bombs.] No checks into Monte Carlo, of course (I lived for a year near Monaco, so I knew this would be the case). Frequent travellers to Europe will no doubt confirm what I'm saying. I travelled to dozens of countries in Europe a while back, and never was checked at any borders, save for a quick glance at my passport. --Tim May We got computers, we're tapping phone lines, we know that that ain't allowed. ---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---- Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, tcmay@got.net 408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA | knowledge, reputations, information markets, Higher Power: 2^756839 - 1 | black markets, collapse of governments. "National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."