Crypto anarchist getting through customs

[tcmay@got.net (Timothy C. May)]

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."