A friend of mine flew back home to Canada. After clearing customs, he was one of the random people chosen to have their luggage inspected. He had his laptop on him and the customs agent booted up the computer, asked him to enter his password and then took his laptop away before bringing it back without telling him anything about it.
I wondered what would have happened if he refused to type in the password.
Not sure why your were upvoted (probably for the sentiment that freely entering one's password without reason should not happen) because that is not correct.
In the US, "customs" typically refer to ICE and TSA, both are enforcement functions of the United States Department of Homeland Security.
checking facts... You are correct. I incorrectly assumed they were equivalent to UK and Norwegian customs, where customs and border protection are separate entities.
I've been wondering about this for a while, my current idea is to wipe my computer before every trip. I keep a backup on a desktop computer that I access to while away. If this happened while coming back to canada, I'd probably still argue and see what I can do. Not sure if I'd go all the way to letting them take my laptop away for ever. They can't refuse to let you back into the country so.. at least on that point you are safe.
I wondered what would have happened if he refused to type in the password.