Laptop and Airport Security

Thanks for the reassurances. And for the hint regarding Customs' seizure without probably cause. Think I'll look into encryption!

Anything can happen, but I wouldn't stress-out about it. The TSA areas at the airports are saturated by security cameras. If someone did steal your laptop they would be quickly identified. Most airport travelers are carrying some sort of computing device these days, and the vast majority get them back after they pass though the x-ray machines. So playing the odds a theft won't occur.

I wouldn't worry about theft in the security area. However, do make sure the battery is charged and you can actually turn on your laptap as proof of its function. Otherwise you might get it confiscated.

Just returned from our trip. We carried our laptop through several security checkpoints with no problem whatsoever. Most checkers requested it be removed from its carrier; somewhere (Munich?) we had to leave it in the carrier. Just when we thought we had it figured out. All personnel were professional and polite. I wouldn't worry.

Laptops are taken through security by the tens of thousands everyday. Think of every business traveler not to mention so many vacation travelers that bring them. Your concerns are highly unwarranted.

I have not traveled abroad with my laptop, but have taken at least 10 domestic flights with it and have never been concerned. I suppose it is a risk you take, but I think you have higher risk of it breaking at some point on the trip than a security man stealing it.

I must have carried my laptop through security on three continents (N. America, Europe and Asia) at least 200 times in my life. I have NEVER had any worries about it being stolen. Look, I'm not saying it can't happen but I'd be far more worried about losing it if I left it on the table when I got up for a second at a Starbucks in any city in the US than at an airport security checkpoint.

Rather than worrying about theft of your laptop, you should be worrying about a Customs seizure of your laptop and search of your data. See, for example, http://associatesmind.com/2011/04/11/your-laptop-is-not-private-or-secure-at-us-customs/ - no warrant or even probably cause required.

Mary wrote: " Thanks for the reassurances. And for the hint regarding Customs' seizure without probably cause. Think I'll look into encryption!" Be forewarned that it has been reported that some border guards may demand your password if they turn the computer on and see that you have something encrypted on there. It is a big issue to civil libertarians. If you do go with encryption, you might consider True Crypt. It is a free, open source program that lets you set up two encrypted partitions in one file. You put stuff you don't care about in the first half so you can give someone the password for that half. The second, secret half uses a different password. I've tried it out, but never had need to use it. My inclination is to go the opposite way: Remove everything possibly sensitive from the laptop before leaving so it is basically a blank machine with just the necessary programs on it. If I have anything I think I might need to access, I'd put it on a secure computer file somewhere that I could access over a secure wifi connection. That way it is never stored on my computer. Empty your browser cache, temporary files, and recycle bin every time you use the computer and then run a program to shred what you deleted. Besides border concerns, these steps are also wise if your computer should be lost or stolen on your trip.

I have been told the moon is made of cheese. Regardless of WHAT you hear most laptop "thefts" at security are really"I walked off and left it and it disappeared" And yes, if you leave it sitting there for a long time then....... I travel weekly, the laptop is out of my view for probably less then 30 seconds using the full body scan (Note: I won't send it through until I am close to going through the scanner. The TSA dislikes that but they really have no choice) The bigger risk is people do not pick them back up and put them in their luggage. Saw one just sitting there abandoned on Monday!

"Ten's of thousands" might be an underestimate of how many business computers go through security. Anyone who travels for business these days take some sort of computer with them. Recently, too, I was directed by the TSA agent, to not enter the body screening area until I saw my items enter the xray machine. Also, note that the issues surrounding the seizure of laptops was on a site that is giving advice to lawyers whose profession required confidentiality. Also, after saying that they can basically seize anything that they want, the court goes on to say, "Still, the line we draw stops far short of "anything goes" at the border. The Government cannot simply seize property under its border search power and hold it for weeks, months, or years on a whim. Rather, we continue to scrutinize searches and seizures effectuated under the longstanding border search power on a case-by-case basis to determine whether the manner of the search and seizure was so egregious as to render it unreasonable." That said, I suspect that if they start seizing tourists' computers and looting our photos of the Changing of Guard someone is going to file suit again. So, yes, remove confidential material from your computer before taking it Europe, but wouldn't you want to do that any way? I suspect that the odds of your computer getting seized when you re-enter the US are pretty slim. Unless of course, you've been slipping off to wilds of Pakistan or Afghanistan and been cavorting with the Taliban.

First off left, Is is pretty rare so don't sweat it. But if it does occur, it occurs when your laptop goes thru quickly but YOU get stuck at the full body scanner. And is stolen by someone not a TSA agent but a thief waiting where the stuff comes thru the scanner. Fortunately, this is very very easy to prevent if you are not traveling alone and as you used the pronoun "we" I assume you will be traveling with at least one other person. Here is what to do: Have the person with the laptop be the second person thru the scanner. And have that person wait to place it on the belt until after the first person has cleared security as is ready to retrieve it when it comes out the other end.

LOOK at the scanner. Seriously, I watch my stuff while I am in line, while I am being "patted down" etc. The ONLY time I can't see my stuff is when it's in the scanner or while I am in the "nude o scope" Since the "nude" takes 30 seconds it's not that long. One other thing that might make you feel more secure, buy one of the new laptop cases that allow you to send your laptop through without taking it out of the case (also means you are less likely to leave it!) I found one that Opens and folds flat for $35 at Target that worked great until I upgraded to a nicer version at REI. Basically you want the type that kind of open up and let the laptop lay flat while staying in the case. Means the laptop is not "exposed" to prying eyes. That said, as a weekly traveler I have never even met anyone who had a laptop stolen at security. (I have met a few people who forgot one and I had a co-worker claim "theft" but when the full story came out he had just left the thing. The lie got him in more trouble then the lost laptop!)

What Ed said is essentially the best way to avoid the thief team where one person steals stuff off the conveyer belt while his partner creates a delay at the metal detector. They aren't focused solely on laptops but on anything that looks valuable. Ed's answer uses the team concept. As an individual just don't send your stuff through the x-ray until you know there is no delay getting through the metal detector yourself.

Brad- How do you do that? I can and do wait until the person before me has cleared the scanner, before putting my laptop on the belt. But I have to put the laptop on the belt before I can enter the scanner myself, and it is possible for me to be delayed (although I minimize that by having nothing in my pockets, no jewelry, etc)

Oh my gosh... The Moon is made of Cheese!!! Yippee!!! ;-)