The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has come up with yet another whizzo security plan which will definitely make the USA far more secure and a more free place to live in - or travel to.

Any unwary traveller who might look suspicious in the eyes of an overzealous customs agent fantasizing about catching international terrorists can have his or her notebook, Ipod, USB stick and even audio cassette seized for an indefinite amount of time. Presumably, traditional terrorists go for the older technology. It is not reported if vinyl albums are included in the initiative, or, indeed, if books, diaries and notepads will also be snatched.

The best thing about this new policy of seizures is one doesn't even have to arouse the impression of being a suspicious wrong-doer. At least the unfortunate can rest their minds knowing the measure, which has been in effect for some time now, yet wasn't publicised until now, also includes regular US citizens.

Secretary of Home Security Michael Chertoff justified the suspension of civil rights by saying that seizing laptops and gadgets on grounds of no suspicion, evidence or charges had uncovered 'violent jihadist materials' and child porn, so it is a good thing churning out policies which sound as if they were concocted by the Gestapo. Mr. Chertoff didn't reveal if the violent materials were clips grabbed from wondrous web 2.0 sites like youtube.com, or liveleak.com. As a matter of fact, using the word 'jihad' as a search term on liveleak.com will conjure up violent jihadist material, such as 'Islamic Army in Iraq: IED targeting an American Humvee north of Baghdad'. It is not known if child porn included some nude photo of a 17 year old girlfriend of a 19 year old college student, which would probably qualify.

If the examined content was morally sound and didn't cause offence to Mom's apple pie, all copies of the data must be destroyed. However, the DHS is allowed to keep its written report, just in case the tourist might turn into a turrist in the future.

In William Gibson's new novel, which partially revolves around the handling of devious data stored on Ipods, the luckless figure Milgrim makes a fitting point - namely that the terrorists have won when a state is frightened into surrendering freedom and the rule of law, thus degrading the very society it is meant to protect.

Well done, DHS! X