If you are traveling to Australia any time soon then be advised that your laptop and indeed the rest of your luggage might be searched for porn.

International travelers are accustomed to filling out Incoming Passenger Cards - declaring gifts and alerting customs if you have traveled to any unusual locales.  However, when entering Australia visitors are now required to answer whether they are carrying pornography on their person, place, or thing. 

The Australian Sex Party (a real political party) first spotted this modification to the customs form which is unusual as pornography itself is not illegal in Australia.  Their press release notes that a senior Customs official, Richard Janeczko, has been quoted as saying that materials “stored on electronic media devices such as laptops, thumb drives and iPhones” are on their target list.

When quizzed, the official statement by a customs spokesperson was: "Including an express reference to pornography is intended to enhance the interception of prohibited pornography at the border, by making passengers aware that some forms of pornography may be a prohibited import."  Beyond that government speak language, one can only assume that the aim of this rule is to prevent the importation of pornography that includes children, extreme violence or other material that violates Australian law. 

Opponents, like the Australian Sex Party claim that the new Customs power will not stop the importation of child porn and other offensive material, and will instead lead to ordinary people being subjected to humiliating searches at airports.  The Australian Sex Party asks "If you and your partner have filmed or photographed yourselves making love in an exotic destination or even taking a bath, you will have to answer 'Yes' to the question or you will be breaking the law," president Fiona Patten of the party said.

Electronic Frontiers Australia, a non-profit group that lobbies for online freedom and rights, says it is concerned that there will be a surge in unwarranted searches of people's laptops, phones and cameras.  But, Customs said the assessment of adult material would be done by officers trained to be tactful and discreet.  Which leads you to wonder how people were selected for that training class.

So honeymooners beware.  Either don't take those "special" honeymoon photos or be prepared to lie on your Incoming Passenger Cards.