I have been using a portable computer for nearly 4 decades.

A fellow Chem E, one who was writing books (and created a computing publishing house) about computer programs felt he could create a better computer than any had offered to date. So, in 1981, Adam Osborne did just that. He offered a portable computer (weighing in at a svelte 22 pounds), with a 7 inch screen, and two 180 KB 5 ¼ inch flopping drives. I had three of them- and replaced them when he offered up 360 KB drives- double the storage!  (The last floppy I used stored about 3 MB!)

I traveled the world with  my Osborne, running through airports to catch my next flight. (I even carried a 14.4 baud modem to transmit information back to the office- v…e…r…y  s…l…o…w…l…y.)

Eventually these devices got replaced by 386SX devices (with a 10 inch screen, hard drives (5 or 10 MB) and a ‘hard’ floppy drive.

Jump forward two decades. Now, I do my travelling with a one-of-a-kind 17 inch laptop. (The biggest size a competitor offered at that time was barely 15 inches.  And, this really wasn’t one-of-a-kind; the vendor made almost 1000 of them.)

And, I’m with a client in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Right after the flights resumed (after 9/11); our flight had been delayed because of the airline shutdowns. And, as I’m proceeding through the inspection process, one of the ding-dongs panics at my computer. Even though I turn it on and off for him. (That was the standard ‘test’ to ensure one was carrying a computer and not a bomb, at the time.)

No, this moron is taking out a screwdriver, planning to “open up” my computer to make sure it doesn’t have a bomb. To which I inform him, he is going to owe me a fortune as he destroys my laptop computer.

He is about to arrest me for threatening him, when my client reminds him (and me) that I have classified documents on my computer (all with passwords for each document and directory)- and perhaps if this ding-dong sees the logo for the agency, he might back off. Which he does.

At that moment, I realized I would NEVER again travel with documents that I wanted no one else to see. Instead, such information is stored on our servers, with two factor authentication, which requires I use a vpn (virtual private network) to access.

And, now, it’s two decades later. And, our government feels entitled to search every laptop, cell phone, smart phone, USB key that we carry.

Read that sentence again. Yes, it’s true.

Officially, the US is seeking out porn, child trafficking, immigration violators, and terrorists.

And, while TheDonald feels entitled to withhold vital information about his taxes and finances, his business dealings with oligarchs, his laundering of money as these folks purchase real estate from his ventures, he feels totally free to violate our civil liberties.

It gets better (actually, that means it gets worse). US Agencies are sharing our personal data (photos, travel data) with airlines as we travel. Jet Blue recently admitted that they have this information, so they don’t need us to carry our boarding passes (since they can compare our face and name with the data they have for the flight we are taking).

And, consider this. If a local cop or a federal agency wants to examine your tablet, instead of getting a warrant, they’ll just ask the border authorities (or the minimally paid folks at the TSA) to conduct a search and share the information. Without a warrant or cause.

Welcome to the Authoritarian States of America.