The 21st Century version of "Where are your papers?!?".

Yet another reason not to fly.

There is a case going through the federal courts right now about having to give up your password to access your computer. From what i remember, you do not have to give up the password as it would be self-incriminating and is protected by the 5th amendment.

maybe someone can dig up that case.

The TSA compares the search to searching ones briefcase, but I do not think that the TSA photocopies the entire contents of briefcases, which is what they do when they copy the data off a device.
Welcome to the Police State of America.

@aaron8301: yet another reason to fly on private airplanes.

ok, this is going a little too far. copying stuff off your computer? thats ridiculous. there is no reason for that. if your laptop doesn't have bomb in it, there is really no reason why you cant take it on the plane.

I actually had a problem getting back into the US in 2006. I'm a web designer and usually travel with a Mac and a Dell so I can test work on both platforms. Unfortunately, my Mac died in London.

On my way through customs in Boston, I was asked to turn it on. When it wouldn't function correctly, I was detained for nearly 6 hours. They finally let me go and I got to leave with both laptops, but most of their questioning proved that they probably weren't tech-savvy enough to catch anything that actually was dangerous.

@aaron8301: It's gonna be awfully hard driving to Hawaii.

This is not particular to flying. It's a US customs issue that affects anyone entering the country by any means.

There's a thorough discussion of it going on here.

I can somewhat understand them asking you to power on a laptop to make sure it's not just a shell with something else in it but that would be as far as they go. asking for password? wanting to see a recent document? what next? do they want to read a little girl's diary too? Honestly i would rather not get on the plane than give up my laptop. I bring it everywhere and i'd be lost and paranoid if i had to give it up to a stranger for a month

Even though the security screens are mostly for show (to make folks feel pbetter/safer about traveling), at least there is something to the thought that you might catch someone trying to bring in a physical bomb. However it is lunacy to suggest that there is any way it makes the skies safer to confiscate and read the contents of a laptop (and still let the passenger fly).

Ridiculous.

All of you who thought the Patriot Act was a great idea? Who voted to put Bush-Cheney back in office in 2004? You asked for this.

@godawgs7: The case you are looking for is here. It concerns a person that revealed his password when entering the country. The court ruled that because he had entered his password, the child pornography found on his computer could be used against him. (Once you've waived your rights, you have no control over how they are used.)

Whoever the next president is, he or she has to either do away with or severely reëvaluate the TSA. There has not been one success story--I challenge my fellow Consumerists to find one--that has convinced me that we are (a) either safer as travellers or (b) that the massive DHS expenditures and logistical issues from increased security are worthwhile.

What we get instead are repeated stories like this one of TSA buffoonery and incompetence.

@woogychuck: Now that is just ridiculous. It should not take 6 hours to figure out a Mac is not a bomb. Thanks airport security, I feel super safe now!

"...It's a US customs issue that affects anyone entering the country by any means..."

But she was LEAVING...

I'd be pissed. Once, a TSA agent told me (while pointing to my laptop) "I'm going to have to go through this."
I said, "That? That's a laptop. You don't *go through* it."
He gave me the "are we going to have a problem here?" and I said "knock yourself out, I gotta see this"
They swabbed it with the magic explosive-detecting Q-Tip and handed it back to me. Had they actually tried to open it and ask me to log in, I am pretty sure I would have put up a fight.

I repeat: This case has nothing at all to do with the TSA. It is an issue with the US Customs and Border Protection. This is not happening to prevent bombs on flights and has nothing to do with the safety of fellow travelers.

Wow. I guess I won't take my laptop on anymore flights. Fortunately I don't travel for business very often. If this ever happened to me, I think I'd just have to ask to see their search warrant. If it meant not getting on the plane, so be it. If it meant arrest, I guess so be it. I'd like to challenge it in court.

My one computer mantra is "treat all of your computers as dummy terminals," meaning all of your content such as photos, music, documents, and writings should NEVER be stored on a PC hard drive, but rather an external and separate hard drive.

If they look through your hard drives they'll see nothing. Sure they dig through your luggage they can find your flash drives and ask you to connect them - but it's a buffer nonetheless.

james

@noquarter: Why would a terrorist try to smuggle out his latest bomb making plans on a laptop? It would be so much easier, quicker, and more secure to just e-mail them out. Really, what are they trying to find by searching laptops?

@ThomFabian: Excellent point! "If you give me your bomb, you may board the plane."

Even though GWB is on his way out, I think it will take another 2 terms to get rid of these stupid anti-terrorist rules and laws.

A commenter on Slashdot suggested that you should create two logins on your laptop.. one would be your real login, and the other would be for the dog and pony show at the airport. You should personalize your airport login with desktop wallpaper of your kids or your pets or something cutesy. Throw in some random Word documents. And create some generic bookmarks on your web browser.

Of course this method isn't 100% foolproof. So you should always carry your critical documents on a USB flash drive, or something small like an SD card. The SD card might be better, since it can fit nicely in your wallet.

Another alternative would be to just send your laptop to your destination through FedEx or UPS.

I wonder what would happen if they asked me to do this with my work laptop.

I could invoke HIPPA. Since I deal with Patient information.

I have a desktop and a laptop, do your private things on your desktop and use your laptop for nothing personal. And always clear your cookies and stuff after every use.

I've never taken my laptop out of the country, but has anyone else noticed the trend where they now swab the laptop for explosives? I fly about 5 times a year for work, and since 2007, they've said, "we need to perform a test on your laptop" and take it to the side to swab it. The first time, I asked what the test was, I got a strange look, and in a firm voice I was told it's a chemical test. Now I'm used to it, but I thought it was funny the last time I went through security the TSA employee's reasoning for choosing to swab my laptop vs. others was that he didn't recognize the brand name. (FYI: it's a Sager) As if terrorists would never use a Dell...

@aaron8301:

Why is it that every post must have a comment that we should not have cable, fly, or eat fast food. I think the whole point is that we should be able to do these things without a lot of hassle. That being said some people just need to fly.

In Germany, they didn't even make me take my laptop out of its protective sleeve.

@rjhiggins: Please don't use these boards to get on your political soapbox. It's off-topic, no matter how much I agree with you.

@zouxou: Oh. Well please be sure to inform us when we are off topic. Or better yet, use your super moderator powers to delete the posts.

Time to start encrypting all my files on a separate partition.

I'm a programmer who travels with a lot of source code and other proprietary information on laptops and other portable storage devices. Like a lot of other folks in technology industries, I've signed non-disclosure agreements on this information that limits how I can disseminate it. In particular, I can't give it to the government unless I first get a subpoena, then notify the corporate owners of the information that I received the subpoena, and then get a thumbs-up from the company's lawyers to comply with the subpoena. If the company doesn't want to hand over the information, I need to sit tight while the company and the government duke it out in court.

So if some government officials simply demanded to copy or even read this kind of information, I would politely refuse, and politely not get on the flight, and politely let them arrest me if they pushed it. Then they'd be in for a world of grief from the lawyers for the companies that own the data, as well as from the law firm I use. And I would politely tell the government officials that, too.

Yes, of course: "another reason not to fly"! Sure, let's never leave the continent again, because of the TSA! Yes, let them take over our lives to the extent that we never go anywhere that is not on our land mass! Those are the types of comments that really add to the discussion, I tell ya!

Ahem. Now what I wonder is if there any any resource out there that explains to travelers what their exact rights are in these situations? Because they may ask me to reveal my password and all that junk, but if I feel like putting up a fight and possibly missing my flight, it might help to know what part of the law is on my side. It feels like you are flying blind (pardon the pun) every time you come into contact with the TSA, because you don't really know if it's truly legal for them to ask for certain things, or if it's just a case where an individual is being a moronic bully.

Eventually, he agreed to log on and stood by as the officer copied the Web sites he had visited, said the engineer, a U.S. citizen who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of calling attention to himself.

That is, to me, the most terrifying line in this whole post. When did it become potentially unsafe to voice dissatisfaction with our own government?

@LatherRinseRepeat: Look at TrueCrypt. You can create an encrypted partition that has two "views". One password gets the real data, a "duress" password present a different set of files, like family photos and boring stuff.

I just recently flew to Orlando from San Jose, CA. Of course all of sheep had to pull off our shoes and belts.. the usual everyone is a terrorist so we don't offend the real terrorist crap...

All they asked was that I pull my laptop from its case and put in a storage bin. I had no idea they can "take" your laptop for whatever reason they come up with. I would have refused to take the flight before giving up my laptop if they did.

I am so sick of this crap about treating everyone as a potential terrorist because we don't want to offend Muslim men, aged 14-49.

@sixseeds: Since the government decided it can throw people in jail without charge?

@rjhiggins:

All of you who thought the Patriot Act was a great idea? Who voted to put Bush-Cheney back in office in 2004? You asked for this.

--

The Patriot Act was passed on October 25, 2001. Passed by both Democrats and Republicans. Don't you have anything better to do than obsess over Bush?

[www.senate.gov]

@sixseeds: I absolutely agree. And the saddest part is that I'm not sure it's dawned on us yet just how badly this culture of fear and intimidation is taking over.

Again instead of security programs and encryptors why not just put a memory card in your pocket.

That's how I do - even before this nonsense. The only thing on my laptop is Windows and program apps.

Oh and some photos of my kids [zioneocon.blogspot.com]

I once went through Pentagon security where I noticed that they were making people turn on all electronics devices. I had a mp3 player/disk drive with a bunch of porn on it (nothing illegal, mind you) so I was a little worried about what would happen (-like if they would make me connect it and scan it). but they just had me turn it on, then handed it back. That would have been embarrassing.

Once again, Consumerist confuses government agencies. The article is referring to Customs and Border Protection, the agency that handles inspections of people and property coming INTO the country from overseas. TSA handles screening for "dangerous weapons" for all flights leaving from US airports.

There are some great ideas for protecting your laptop presented here. Steps I intend to take before my next transatlantic flight.
We need to be contacting our congress (not that they have shown the required backbone) and ask the simple question, "Why is the CBP spending time and effort in looking at laptops, cameras and cellphones when they cannot stop the flow of thousands of people crossing the border illegally or the tons of narcotics coming into the country each day? Should they not focus on stopping the actual terrorists and bombs instead of worrying about our web surfing habits or work documents?"
Time to put a stop to the government's game of Simon Says!

@TRICK: So, what do Muslim men aged 14-49 look like? Are they all of Arab descent? What about African American Nation of Islam members? What about caucasians who werre converted or (God forbid!) born into a Muslim family? Dude, I get what you are saying about our reticence to just screen the ethnic groups we believe are most likely to be terrorists, but imagine if you yourself were an Arab Christian. Imagine everyone around you looking and whispering and treating you like a criminal because of your skin color or your accent or your clothing. What if next week, some ass-backwards Montana rednecks decided to blow up some public building and the TSA decided that these are the new terrorists? Would you consent to be searched everywhere you went? Think on it. Hard.

@Trick: So, what do Muslim men aged 14-49 look like, exactly? Are they all of Arab descent? What about the Nation of Islam (African-American)? What about Caucasian Muslims? Just be the racist you are and admit you believe that all people of Arab descent should be searched. If it's what you really think, don't be shy about it.

@sixseeds: Indeed that comment stood out in my eyes as well. What have we come to? Remember when the only thing we needed to fear in this country was fear itself? Now it's definitely the government (and has been for some time, long before 9/11.) Anyone remember the FBI's "Carnivore" project?

I always thought the idea of using a laptop as a bomb was a terrible one -- not enough room. The only thing a laptop would allow for would be a nice battery, but that's it. Fortunately I've not been asked in years to power up my laptop for security, otherwise I'd be screwed. The battery's been shot for years now.

I'm obvs having commenting problems today. Sorry for the double post.

@amejr999: I was going to say, the TSA screeners have never copied my information. They ask me to turn on my laptop, but they've never required me to log in and they've never copied my information. I've also never taken a laptop overseas or come back into the country with a laptop, so I don't have experience with customs.