No Passport, No Problem: Man Uses iPad to Cross Border into U.S.

-

Martin Reisch is certain that if Steve Jobs was alive, the tech innovator would have something to say about him.

The Montreal-based photographer made world headlines after he managed to cross the U.S. border with a scanned image of his passport on his iPad.

“He’d probably say: ‘Here’s something to work on for the future.’ Maybe have some kind of digital certification or encryption to let people travel like this,” Reisch said.

Although he’s sure the U.S. border guard made an exception for him, Reisch is glad his story is being repeated by the likes of the BBC, the Washington Post and the Huffington Post.

“I hope the biggest thing to come out of this is that it becomes a catalyst to change the rules,” he said.

On Friday, Reisch was driving down Highway 55 to visit friends in Vermont, when 30 minutes from the Stanstead crossing, he remembered that he left his passport at home.

He thought of turning around when he remembered that he had a scanned copy of his passport on Dropbox, an online file storage service. It was a backup he kept in case he lost his passport while travelling.

“When I explained my story to the American guard, he looked kind of indifferent. He was a pretty serious border guy,” Reisch said.

The officer took his tablet computer and went inside the border office. “I guess he looked me up in the computer and saw I’m not a criminal or a terrorist or anything.

“He didn’t say much besides ‘Merry Christmas.’ ”

Scanned copies of passports are not accepted forms of ID to cross the American border by land, according to the Canada Border Services Agency. Under the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, Canadians must present a passport, a NEXUS card, a Free and Secure Trade (FAST) card, an enhanced driver’s licence, or a Secure Certificate of Indian Status.

When crossing back into Canada, Reisch was received with more enthusiasm.

“(The Canadian guard) was a really young guy. We had a cool chat about iPhones and technology. He was really interested and didn’t make a big deal that he was letting me through,” Reisch said.

Montreal Gazette

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Huge Japan Quake Cracked Open Seafloor

-
The March 2011 megaquake off the coast of Japan opened up fissures as wide as 6 feet (3 meters) in the seafloor, a new study finds. The fissures now scar the seafloor where peaceful clam beds once lay, according to Takeshi Tsuji, a researcher at Kyoto University in Japan . Along with seismic studies, the fissures, revealed by manned submersible vehicles that investigated the seafloor after the quake, show how the crust around the quake's epicenter expanded and cracked.
Read more

Index for a million documents on Polish Jewry to go online

-
Researchers of Polish Jewry are set to gain online access to more than 1 million new documents following an agreement signed by the Polish State Archives. Under the agreement signed last week, Jewish Records Indexing-Poland will receive indices to the documents from the Polish archives authority and place them on the website of the online database within one year, a JRI-Poland statement read.
Read more

A lot of the bread in the US will no longer be kosher

-
The largest baking company in the United States will be removing kosher certification from nearly all of its bread and rolls. Bimbo Bakeries USA confirmed to JTA that it will be removing the certification. The company produces brands including Arnold, Sara Lee, Stroehmann, Freihofer’s and others. Two of its major brands, Entenmann’s and Thomas, will remain certified kosher. So, kosher eaters, your crumb doughnuts and English muffins are still safe. A couple of rye breads also will retain their certifications. “Removing the kosher certification from some of our products was strictly a business-process decision to enable more efficient operations, and it was one we did not make lightly,” Bimbo said in a statement. “Thomas’ and Entenmann’s products as well as Arnold’s and Levy’s Rye Breads will remain kosher-certified. It is important to note that we have heard our consumers’ concerns and are working with kosher certification organizations and discussing alternative solutions.” The c
Read more