RSSTSA to allow travelers' laptops to stay packed
By Tim Conneally | Published August 15, 2008, 6:32 PM
Beginning August 16, the US Transportation Safety Administration will no longer expressly require laptops to be removed from luggage at airport security checkpoints if they are kept in appropriate bags.
The allowance has been made, according to the TSA, to help streamline the security check process and reduce the likelihood of damage to travelers' important hardware.
While some airports already allowed laptops to be contained within a single carry-on in expedited checkpoints, the TSA has now afforded the option to all travelers, provided their laptop is in one of the following:
The allowance has already been criticized for actually complicating the already time-consuming security screening process. Because all laptop bags produced up until now have not had a standard such as this to adhere to, there is no guarantee that a bag that passes screening at one airport will pass at another.
The TSA mentions that there will soon be bags available that are labeled as "laptop friendly," and notes that due to the random nature of screening protocols, even these may have to be opened and re-screened.
Good point - il-loostya
Coming soon - TSA Travel Luggage.
Come and visit -
http://afewtips.com
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You have no rights
no privacy
Not even physical security anymore
You should wear only a gray outfit as required by the TSA.
Resisting is admitting
Please smile.
You live in a democracy by name, be thankful for that and smile while forfeiting your basic human rights.
Thank you.
This was a message of the ministry of the peace of mind.
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This has nothing to do with security but everything to do with profits.
Nice business move on the part of the TSA, first there were the TSA friendly suitcase equipped locks and straps.. now they have the TSA friendly notebook bags on their catalogs. Whether they are selling them directly or licensing the design to third party manufacturers the TSA is making money on this junk.
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the question remains whether or not tsa has the right to log into the hard drives of the laptops and demand for your passwords.
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If this helps, for those not familiar with the developments:
"Following in the wake of February's news that customs agents were seizing electronics and making copies of all the files on cell phones and laptop hard drives, a federal appeals court has ruled on the legality of such searches. The result: Yeah, customs can do whatever it wants to your computer when you come across the border, without a warrant, and without cause.
The ruling extends to all electronics: In addition to laptops, feds can seize phone records and even digital pictures on your camera as they hunt for evidence. The ruling was unanimous among the three appellate judges.
Be assured that the ruling has little to do with thwarting terrorism. The appeal was actually part of an ongoing trial of a man named Michael Arnold, who returned from the Philippines and had his laptop scoured by the feds. They found purported images of child pornography on the laptop and later arrested him. In his trial, the evidence was suppressed for probable cause issues, as the court said that customs had no reasonable suspicion to search his laptop in the first place. That ruling has now been overturned.
As Wired notes, the court did not rule on whether you have to help agents access your hard drive. If you use a password or encryption, the court was mum on whether you can be compelled to provide information on bypassing that security in order to access materials on the drive. If you find yourself in such a situation and have anything on your computer that might be considered at all suspicious, you are probably wise to keep mum on providing login information.
This is an issue that will undoubtedly keep developing (and will probably be submitted, in the end, to the Supreme Court), but anyone traveling overseas with sensitive information (even confidential, legal stuff) should for now consider storing it elsewhere (online, perhaps) or simply leaving it at home."
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yes, i recall the issue surrounding the child porn case and i appreciate the details you posted.
i also heard that for the sake of time, customs could take the laptop away from the user if it required to be decrypted by the justice department.
a couple of weeks later, the laptop would be returned to the owner.
the problem with this, is what if there is absolutely nothing illegal on the laptop. so it was unlawfully searched and seized by the feds.
what if there is pictures of animal cruelty or beastiality and the customs agent is a moralist?
what if the o.s. is in arabic or islamic language, then all these laptops will automatically be confiscated by the feds until they are decrypted.
but what if their bible the koran had secrets plans and the contacts of terrorists written into with sand script. customs would probably flip through the pages of the book and wave it through customs. however, if the law applied, then the koran would be confiscated and after it was analyzed would be returned to the user, later.
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What if, instead of contributing to the situations you suggest - almost all of which are grounds for them seizing the computer, you effectively leave the crap off of the unit and either access whatever Islamo-fascist kiddie porn complete with instructions on how to wire a stroller for detonation. that you absolutely need, via an online repository or website?
This irony is that the 8th century idiots seem to be smarter in accessing their material than the oh so erudite Constitutional scholars here who are wetting their pants over having their gay/kiddie pron uncovered.
Who cares. Leave the crap off your computer...besides, a legitimate case can be made that they don't need the entire computer, just the hard drive! But just like so many of the whiny P2P music thieves who are stupid enough to use P2P and get caught, the kids complaining here are simply too stupid to think ahead as well and would prefer to simply whine about this.
Whatever happened to the proposed advance expedited security clearance for frequent travelers...it would be easy to establish or flag the database of travelers for this.
Of course, that would take some of the joy out of traveling. And besides, maybe they could flag those bringing small kids who do not know the meaning of the word "no" and subject them to a few extra hours of justified interrogation...starting with "why in the #$@% did you think yourself qualified to have a kid?"
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perhaps, that is why the feds want to provide free broadband.
such a system would be a clearing house for information similar to the banking system that monitors transfers of currency and the credit card system.
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"sand script"? I'll have to assume you mean Sanskrit. Further, Sanskrit is an Indian language not Arabic.
One would hope that the TSA is at least slightly better educated than you.
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Just a small point, you don't "decrypt" a foreign language or script, you "read" it and then "translate" it.
Foreign alphabets are not CYPHERS!
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TSA are idiots. When enough people lost their laptops at the airports, which i suspect those numb skulls who check us are involved in flicking it while we are busy getting a pat down or putting on our socks, they now come up with this absurd standard which they know that no one will have, thus covering their a** if they had a law suit for the most lost laptops in the world.
Those idiots made me pour out my infants' medicine since it was more than the allowed amount. Really, cant I have 25ml of medicine on a 23 hour journey?
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You can take any amount of medicine you want.
It's well defined on the TSA website, you just need to declare them.
"You may bring all prescription and over-the-counter medications (liquids, gels, and aerosols) including petroleum jelly, eye drops, and saline solution for medical purposes.
Additional items you may bring include:
* Liquids including water, juice, or liquid nutrition or gels for passengers with a disability or medical condition;
* Life-support and life-sustaining liquids such as bone marrow, blood products, and transplant organs;
* Items used to augment the body for medical or cosmetic reasons such as mastectomy products, prosthetic breasts, bras or shells containing gels, saline solution, or other liquids; and,
* Gels or frozen liquids needed to cool disability or medically related items used by persons with disabilities or medical conditions.
You are not limited in the amount or volume of these items you may bring in your carry-on baggage. BUT if the medically necessary items exceed 3 ounces or are not contained in a one-quart, zip-top plastic bag, you MUST declare to one of our Security Officers at the checkpoint for further inspection."
http://www.tsa.gov/trave...eds/editorial_1059.shtm
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I'm not switching bags, I'll keep using a bucket for my notebook thanks. Really, how hard is it to unzip the backpack before it's your turn in line?
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so the TSA can still randomly search your hard drive ?
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what?!?
The TSA does not search the contents of a harddrive without an arrest!
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If you are traveling internationally... probably.
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They (can/do) if you are trying to enter or leave the US.
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That's correct. But not domestically.
Additionally, if they do, you are under no obligation to provide passwords, logins, or any other assistance. So just encrypt your data with 128 bit AES (which you should be doing if you travel with the laptop ANYWAY), and keep a backup... Or just carry it encrypted and unloaded on a DVD, or better yet, store it online! This isn't rocket science.
Of course, if someone is stupid enough to travel with kiddie porn or bomb plans or maps of secure facilities, I have no problem with them getting caught
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"you are under no obligation to provide passwords, logins, or any other assistance"
Which means they can keep it for months to decrypt it on their own.
"Of course, if someone is stupid enough to travel with kiddie porn or bomb plans or maps of secure facilities, I have no problem with them getting caught "
I'm on board with then getting caught anytime, not just when they are traveling. :-D
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In theory they can't do a lot of things.
My spouse works for an airline and has seen TSA and the FBI pull luggage with laptops, wipe the hard drives with large magnets and even break prongs off the HD interface.
All you have to do is get your name on a list.
So ya in theory, they aren't suppose to do these things either, but it happens more frequently than people realize.
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It's against federal law to export encryption.
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oh boy! IT wizards here!
yes, encryption technology, but carrying encrypted data is not exporting it any more than you are exporting your wife or child if you travel together - assuming you aren't a white slaver...
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Great...configurations that fail to conform to the vast majority of computer bags - thus unpacking is still required.
"there will soon be bags available that are labeled as "laptop friendly"...what we need is a professional security system that values substance over symbolism.
But at least they have gotten a grip on nail clippers. And I am surprised they abandoned the internationally feared "Are you a terrorist" question at the ticket counter that had all of the terrorists afraid to book a ticket! Granted, it wasn't as horribly intimidating as putting underwear on someone's head or placing a page of a book in the commode, but it sure skeered me into behaving myself!
The supreme irony is that 99% of it is all a dog a pony show designed to make passengers feelsafer without adding any greater real security.
Subscribe to Bruce Schneier's website and learn something.
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With all the technology why not just scan it through the bag.
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I think with the other stuff that can be contained in a laptop bag it makes it hard to see certain details.
In my laptop bag, I carry my PSP and a ton of various cables. Add the laptop to it and I'm sure its a mess to decifer.
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They don't have to know what's in it; they have to know that a bomb/drugs etc isn't in it.
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Because its amazing the stuff you could hide in a laptop bag that blends in perfectly with the wires and such.
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Only a bomb or other weapon.. Drugs will not bring down a plane and therefore are none of the TSAs concern.
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It depends, in the pilot's nose, they may just do that...
I am more concerned about inspection and copying of hard drive contents. How much are people willing to endure, in the name of safety ?
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Dvf**got,
Fly with a Glock 9 do ya, perhaps some RDX (and, no that is not an OS), your comment is worthy of a report to HS.
An' considering your general attitude, deem this a worthy "Notice".
Have a nice day "smilie"!
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F O
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Actually he should F O and D IMO.
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FOADIAF?
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