The U.S. Department of Homeland Security appears to be of two minds about the security of information on portable devices. On the one hand, it defends border searches of laptops as necessary to limit the movements of terrorists, to deter child pornography, and to enforce U.S. laws. On the other hand, it has warned business and government travelers not to carry laptops or other electronic devices when traveling abroad, as a way to prevent “unauthorized access and theft of data by criminal and foreign government elements.”