When airport security searches your laptop once you fly to the US, are they able to search for and recover your deleted files? How?
by 
Egao No Genki
ANSWERS: 6
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Yes!
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Unless you use a scrubber program, your deleted files can still be recovered from your hard drive. There are data recovery programs used by techies, law enforcement agencies, and phishers. There are a number listed on download.com.
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They don't search your laptop. The most they'll do is ask you to turn it on to show that it is actually a computer, and not a computer shaped bomb. The TSA folks are lucky they can tie their shoes, so they're not going to do sophisticated spying.
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unfortunately even though i would love to travel, i have never been out of the u.s. other than Canada. i know that i bought a program called spinrite, it fixes broken files on disks but i don't think it recovers deleted files... i would imagine that if you emptied the recycle bin... or what ever os you used. it was no longer accessable... it would mean that you had no intent to keep the file and you would be able to prove that it was not of interest to you.
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Security in the US for laptops is simply removing it from its case. There is no actual access of info. In the X-ray machine and out the other side in 5 seconds.
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People claiming your laptop files won't be searched on entering the US don't know what they're talking about. Yes, if you are just flying domestically, security typically will only make you remove it from the case and boot it up. But if you are flying FROM overseas - especially Asia - and you fit a profile (adult middle or working class white male flying coach and dressed casually), US Customs will most likely search your laptop for child pornography ... and anything else they find in that search (illegal downloads, pirated software, and any evidence of a crime or terrorist activity) is just gravy. Simply deleting the files is not enough - they can still be retrieved unless you use a scrubber.
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