Technology Takes a Vacation
By Gene Melchionne , Esq . Law Offices of Eugene S . Melchionne Waterbury , Connecticut
Going Mobile
Planning on taking some time off this year ? There may be no better time . We know that filings are down so that means less work to do , right ? ( Said he , tongue planted firmly in cheek .) As you make more use of your technology , you can be freed to travel knowing that the electronic leash is firmly attached anyway . Besides , the NACBA Fall Workshop is going to Cuba this year and when will you ever get a chance to travel there in the future ?
If anything , travel is easier than it has ever been . Fares are lower again and probably cheaper than ever before . Technology gives you that freedom to travel since digital communication is instantaneous . I run a virtual office , so many of my clients don ’ t know if I am responding to their emails or voice mail from my desk , a courtroom , a NACBA Convention , or my boat .
I travel with a plethora of electronic devices ; my iPhone , my iPad and my laptop . Some office data is on those devices , but I also access my office through a static IP number and private VPN . While I can operate with as little as only one of those devices , I am most comfortable having all three . Sometimes you just need a truck to do the hauling . 1
Summertime Blues
If you are traveling out of the country ( again , anyone going to Cuba with the Fall Workshop ?), leaving is simple . You go through a simple metal detector to make sure your devices are not disguised bombs , so you can ’ t blow up the plane or boat . But getting back in might be another story . Customs has decided to randomly search electronic devices for content . If you present as someone suspicious ( wearing that Dump Trump t-shirt ?), plan on getting waylaid .
1 Steve Jobs : Tablets Are Cars . PCs Are Trucks . He famously once said “ When we were an agrarian nation , all cars were trucks , because that ' s what you needed on the farm . But as vehicles started to be used in the urban centers , cars got more popular … PCs are going to be like trucks . They ' re still going to be around , they ' re still going to have a lot of value , but they ' re going to be used by one out of X people .”
Behind Blue Eyes
The good news is that the searches will be limited only to the data located on the device . 2 That means that if you keep your data in the cloud or have social media accounts or other online sources of info , the Border Guard cannot ask you for your passwords to access those online sources . My server located in my office is safe and the officer cannot use the VPN connection to access my server to see what I have there .
But what if you are like me and keep all of your email stored on your device ? What if you spent part of your time overseas communicating with your clients or worse yet , violating the prime rule of vacation and actually drafted a document or performed some research on a client ’ s matter and those files are located locally ? A section of the directive allows Customs to make a copy of the storage on your device and access that copy . Or worse yet , if the device is protected by a passcode and the passcode is not provided to the officer , the device can be confiscated – meaning you lose access to your device until Customs is done with it - and you can be detained from entering the US even if you are a US Citizen . Yikes !
2 U . S . Customs and Border
Directive , January 4 , 2018 , Section 5.1.2
32 CONSUMER BANKRUPTCY JOURNAL Spring 2018 National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys