New TSA Screening: Empty Out All Your Electronics
The TSA is testing a new level of security screening at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport and it requires you to take every electronic component out of your carry-on luggage and put it in a separate bin, reader John tells us. He writes:
"According to the TSA this is a new test program designed to speed up the screening of carry on-baggage..."
"...but, based on my observations, it's not real clear on how this is going to speed things up as each bag had to be passed through the X-Ray, all of the electronics people forgot about removed and placed in a separate tray, then both the bag and the tray X-Rayed again.
The TSA could not explain how they thought this would speed things up but they seemed sure that this additional screening will make all of traveling lives much easier, "once everyone gets used to it."
If this plan gets deployed nationally, travelers who like to bring a lot of gadgets on-board will have to put with the hassle or rethink their packing strategies..
(Photo: DevWalla)
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Comments:
o yea speed up huh? I call bullshit, do you know how much time this is going to add, people fidgeting trying to get it out then back in, most people are retarded and don't do this before hand making things worse.
I already use three trays:
- Shoes
- Laptop
- Pocket contents
(Because you're supposed to keep the shoes and laptop in a separate tray than everything else).
So now I need a tray for shoes, laptop, pocket contents (unless some of those are electronic, in which case each needs it's own tray), USB Key, cell phone, airplane AC inverter, IPOD, ... I'm up to seven trays. Just for me to go through. And I'm not nearly as loaded with electronic crap as other travellers I see.
Yeah, sure, it'll make things go lots quicker.
This is ridiculous. Now I have to take my computer out of its bump case, its DVD drive, my cingular card out, my iPod, bluetooth headset, and cell phone which are all in separate pockets of my backpack. This will make things go slower if anything. Then I have to repack all that crap when I get to the other side of security. Way to go, TSA.
I see a rise in theft from sticking all of your valuable electronics in bins to be inspected.
Isnt there a scam where someone puts their bag on the conveyer belt & another person holds up the line so someone else can steal the first person's bag as it comes thru on the other side?
Lordy! Its bad enough that your electronic get stolen if left in checked luggage.... now they are gonna get swiped when you attempt to bring them on in carryon luggage!
I got pulled aside for a patdown while my passport & other important travel documents were put thru the conveyer-belt x-ray (they FORCED me to do it) & I was watching it like a furkin' HAWK!
Airport thieves must be jizzing in their pants hoping this new procedure takes permanent effect all across the country!
Oh yeah and don't forget:
- Car keys remote
- Home security system remote
- SecureID FOB
- ...
Methinks TSA didn't think this through. They don't have enough trays for one each, I guarantee it. This will die the first time they implement it somewhere big, like Chicago or LaGuardia.
Agreed that this will just slow things down. How many things do I need to go through and pick out, and then have to remember to retrieve? It would certainly take longer and cause more confusion to do all that than the current situation.
TSA is probably thinking about the times that they have to dig through bags to find the one potentially-suspicious electronic equipment that was buried at the bottom.
However, I feel that the current method is FAR more efficient than making every business traveler use 8 bins.
Some airports already ask people to do this, and it in no way speeds things up... more like slows everything down. and i really doubt it makes a real difference in the x-ray machine whether the item is in a bag or not, just saves them the trouble of asking you to take it out IF they're unsure of something. Its like wasting a lot more time to save a little bit of time.
I'm a photographer and I take my backpack with me that is LOADED with lenses and bodies. So now I have to take them all at the risk of damaging my lenses and bodies. This is just ridiculous. Last time I flew I was asked to remove my laptop from my bag. I did that and before I could set it down the TSA agent took it from me and tossed into a bin. This resulted in scratches all over the top of my laptop, since she put it in upside down.
Not only will stuff get stolen, but the idiots employed by TSA will also get to break expensive electronics!
Can I get a small bin to put my shredded copy of the Bill of Rights?
Maybe a sandwich size baggie to go in the same bin with my 3 oz. K-Y gel?
I, for one, would like to thank Kip Hawley for the increase in the chocolate ration.
@humphrmi: The TSA thinks everything through and doesn't just institute new pointless policies as knee-jerk reactions.
And if you call them on the damage they do to your stuff.... they threaten to have you arrested.
@Freedomboy: The Bill of Rights doesn't apply since you're not guaranteed the constitutional freedom to fly in an airplane or hang out at the airport.
Laptop, PSP, Cell Phone, DS, Digital Camera, XM Radio, Zune, Noise Canceling Headset, Wireless Mouse - and that's just everything in my backpack/laptop case on a regular basis, not even traveling. What next, an individual bin for every item?
@medic78: When I flew out of STL in July, I threw my bookbag into a bin, my keys, wallet, iPod, phone and shoes into another and my laptop into a 3rd. I didn't need separate bins for everything
No right to hang out in the airport? Really, you should proabably read the first admendment, especially the part about the right of the people peaceably to assemble.
Well first the comment was based anger from a personal experience this past spring. I was refused entry into the local IRS office to get a booklet on the law about independant contractors and the tax law that applies.
Because my state issued ID was 3 days out of date!! I had with me also my photo ID for my secured building, all the other ID anyone in modern America would have in their pocket and the rent-a-thug stopped me and the whole experince was one step away from a taser event. I KNEW I had to ask permission to just leave because if I turned to exit I would have been jumped.
Now do I have a right to go into a public building? THAT is not in the Constitution in specific words either.
So just where does one draw the line?, I draw it under the words "the right of the people."
Guess I lose,....... huh?
@headhot: Supreme Court ruled that an airport is not a public forum thus you don't have a first amendment right to be there.
See International Society for Krishna Consciousness v. Lee (505 U.S. 672, 1992). You can read it here: [caselaw.lp.findlaw.com]
I don't want to give them any more ideas, but there is one federal agency that I frequent here in DC that makes you actually TURN ON and use any electronic equipment that goes through security. Yes, that means that if you bring in a laptop for a presentation, you must take it out of your briefcase and boot it up in front of the security guard to prove that it actually works. Same thing for all cell phones, blackberries, etc. Think about how long of a line THAT would create if done in an airport...
eventually we are going to be forced to send all our luggage/possessions in days in advance so they can be screened/searched/inpsected .... while we will have to strip down & given cups to put our genitals in as we pass thru the security checkpoint.
lol
DIRTMONEY:
The cups would be:
the wrong size
cost extra of course
an express lane would be started for the rest of the idiots who refuse to see the pogrom for the trees, since they have seem to have no balls to be scanned.
I'm sorry but anyone who thinks TSA is actually making air travel any safer is sadly mistaken. Anyone remember the federal Air Marshall who was allowed to board a plane with a loaded gun (in the performance of his duties) but had the finger-nail clippers on his keychain confiscated because they were unauthorized?
They have not made us any safer, and the terrorists know this.
@Jaysyn: Actually, he's right. Flying on an airplane is not a protected right. When you enter an airport, you agree to abide by the terms and conditions required for travel, regardless of how arbitrary and useless they might be.
The problem is that most people are complacent about it it because they don't have any other option. How else are going you to get from Seattle to Phoenix in just a few hours (as I did last night, and had to take my laptop, portable DVD player, Nintendo DS, iPod, and cell phone out).
Guess whose wife got scrutinized when he forgot to take a pocketknife out of her carry-on. ;)
it requires you to take every electronic component out of your carry-on luggage and put it in a separate bin
I will award a small cash prize to the first person who goes there with a carry-on bag filled with half a million loose resistors.
Let's see, that would be bins for:
-shoes
-jacket/sweater
-laptop
-digital camera
-cell phone
-car opener
-mp3 player
-dignity
Oh, wait, my dignity actually goes into the trash bin...the minute I step into the airport.
I wish there was one line at TSA for travelers with carry-on luggage, and a different and faster line for the rest of us.
Of course, I also think Starbucks should have a separate line for those who just want coffee.
What's going to actually make the whole flying process easier is when we all realize that the TSA is doing nothing to actually make us safer by doing this. The whole process is a joke. As it stands right now...I have to put my laptop in a bin, but my portable DVD player can stay in my bag. Is there that much of a difference? No. One has more buttons than the other.
They told me it was because they can't scan through the laptop battery...doesn't the DVD player use a similar battery?
And besides, so many people travel with so many portable electronics that this will only serve to make things more complicated for everyone involved.
Based on my last few flights, this would mean rifling through my carry-on and pulling out the following:
- Laptop
- Laptop's power source
- MP3 player
- Digital camera
- Film camera (has electronic components)
- USB external drive
- Power converter
- Cell phone
I'm sure people behind me will be jumping of joy at seeing me speeding up the security line so much...
The TSA could not explain how they thought this would speed things up but they seemed sure that this additional screening will make all of traveling lives much easier, "once everyone gets used to it."
Hmm hasn't that idea been used before? Say 1930's Germany. Submit to our authority or be crushed.
Every one is right on with the problems of this policy. What is even more interesting when you travel from Europe to the USA you do not have to take off your shoes or belt.
I have no problem with it as long as
* Safeguards are but in place to prevent theft
* I am allowed as much time as needed to get dressed again and time to properly repack my back back.
* Clearly posted policy on dealing with stolen and/or damaged electronics
* Guarantee that the TSA agent will actually look at the screen when my items pass through. There's nothing like going through the drill only to watch the TSA agent looking somewhere other than the monitor. This happened about a month ago coming back to US from Europe. Was forced to go through the extra bag scan coming into the country and a bunch of us watched as bags passed through the machine and the agent was turned around in his chair talking to someone else. If I'm going to go through with this hassle then the TSA should as well.
* I know profiling is "illegal", but c'mom the little blue-haired grandmother taking her shoes off emptying her purse etc. is ridiculous.
*TSA uses common sense in creating their security screening protocols.
Need I go on....heading to Asia in a week...I'm sure I can contribute more on the return.
NJTrout
What difference is it going to make, an ipod going through your backpack or in it's own tray? I already get looks from people when I pull out my laptop, then have to remove it from it's thin sleeve to protect it.
@Canadian Impostor: Wow. You get my nomination for least informed post of the year. You're up against some pretty strong competition, but I think you've got a shot.
As for the mater at hand, words cannot describe the stupidity (yet again) of the TSA with it's "everyone's a terrorist" mentaility and highly trained staff of high school dropouts.
The irony is almost palpable. This morning NPR runs a Morning Edition story about how the TSA missed 70% of the fake bomb test articles run past the checkpoints at LAX. (That's only marginally worse than the data two months back from DIA). Now we have to shred our tech bags? I think not! The most recent data supports the concept that they'd miss it anyway.
TSA should simply stop fooling around and demand everyone strip naked, insert a wide glass tube in their rectum (for improved visibility, not arousal but hey...), bend over then (optionally) squawk like a chicken.
Although if the highly-competent TSA agent doesn't say "Simon says" first, you have to do it all over again.
@humphrmi: When I flew between Boston & Myrtle Beach in September, I avoided alot of the fuss with the personal screening by putting everything on my person into my backpack!
@mattatwork: Not quite. The TSA is thinking it will be much faster than the old process of sifting through your belongings to figure out what is pawnable or thrashable.
Well since I don't check electronics because they will get stolen or broken I carry everything with me. Let see
Laptop, Charger, Second laptop battery, Cellphone, Camera, Camcorder, Bluetooth head set, USB thumb drive, Cordless mouse, GPS, IPod, Battery Charger.
Yeah I can see how removing all of that, Shoes, Coat, wallet, belt, coins, and anyone 3oz liquid, plus show ID and plane ticket could speed things up. Plus if you have kids in strollers and their toys and crap it would make things smoother. Maybe in the rush and confusion I might leave something behind, like a camera, for the TSA to keep for them self. Why does the TSA not have to follow any legal stature like other government agencies?
Wow, can the TSA get any worse? This just screams, "STEAL MY ELECTRONICS!!1!"
And would ANY of this stop a thin piece of aircraft grade nylon sharpened to a point & taped to a leg or inside a roller bag tube from getting through? No, it would not, can a person threaten and control a cabin attendant with one?, you bet.
Would anything like that, or anything else you could carry on ever then bring down a plane, now?
Of course not - the best security in the world now is the pent-up stress and anger of flyers who would rip the attacker to death.
Best security advertisement in the world would be that poor jerk coming off the plane in parts, 1,2,3,4,5....
The real reason is to acclimatize us to the process of surrendering our rights folks. One lttle cut at a time.
1,2,3,4,5......
I travel with an Ethernet cord and an extension cord. Do those count? I'm wondering if this is really about electronics, or "anything that looks kinda cably." The thing is, things that are cably get shoved deep into my carryon because I don't need them during the damn flight...
"requires you to take every electronic component out of your carry-on luggage and put it in a separate bin,"
That can be read that you cell phone,camera,pda,ipod, headphone etc are all placed in the SAME bin.
That would be same and could save time if there was a question.
It can also be read that each device needs it's own bin. That would be anarchy.
Anyone know where to get clarification?
Yes... once we get used to it, all will be fine.
'cause we've TOTALLY adjusted to the "liquids" thing. You never hear anything about that anymore. People will take this totally in stride.
IT WILL ALL BE FINE I PROMISE
YOUR SHOES LOOK SUSPICIOUS
NINE ELEVEN
@tedyc03: The court also ruled that Slavery is constitutional as well. (Dred Scott) Just cause the court says something does not make it right.
I had to do this last fall flying out of Hartford, CT. It was posted at the security line. Definitely slowed things down.
Isn't this an old rule? I mean St. Louis has been doing it at least since I last flew in June. And yes, it was a giant pain in the ass, since I had a bunch of gadgets, and it was just making the TSA peon get pissed at me (which is ridiculous since it isn't MY rule).