More than half of town halls admit using anti-terror laws to spy on families suspected of putting their rubbish out on the wrong day.

Their tactics include putting secret cameras in tin cans, on lamp posts and even in the homes of 'friendly' residents.

The local authorities admitted that one of their main aims was to catch householders who put their bins out early.

We'll see how well it works.

I'm not a crazy environmentalist, but waste makes me cringe. I make it a habit to contact companies that mail me catalogs that I don't read, telling them to take me off of their lists. I also do little things like bring a couple of bags to the grocery store every time I go in order to avoid generating more plastic waste.

The other day, I was buying my son a sweatshirt in T.J. Maxx, and the clerk popped it into a plastic bag. I said, "Thanks, but I really don't need that bag." He promptly balled it up and threw it in the trash. It makes me sad how so many people just don't get it. If everyone would just think a little bit about this in their daily lives, I think it'd make a big difference for the world we leave to our kids and grandkids.

Here's the actual policy:

Federal agents may take a traveler's laptop or other electronic device to an off-site location for an unspecified period of time without any suspicion of wrongdoing, as part of border search policies the Department of Homeland Security recently disclosed. Also, officials may share copies of the laptop's contents with other agencies and private entities for language translation, data decryption, or other reasons, according to the policies, dated July 16 and issued by two DHS agencies, US Customs and Border Protection and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement... DHS officials said that the newly disclosed policies — which apply to anyone entering the country, including US citizens — are reasonable and necessary to prevent terrorism... The policies cover 'any device capable of storing information in digital or analog form,' including hard drives, flash drives, cell phones, iPods, pagers, beepers, and video and audio tapes. They also cover 'all papers and other written documentation,' including books, pamphlets and 'written materials commonly referred to as "pocket trash..."

It's not the policy that's amazing; it's the fact that the government has actually made it public.

Slashdot thread. My previous essay on crossing borders with laptops, and how to protect yourself.

Although honestly, the best thing is probably to keep your encrypted archives on some network drive somewhere, and download what you need after you cross the border.