Laptops - customs checks.

[Daddies_Sauce]

I travel a lot on business and everytime you take the laptop out of the case and place in its own tray to go through the scanner.

a while ago 4 or 5 years back, during trips OUT OF US airports they asked for you to turn laptop on and as soon as the windows startup box appeared they waved you through (Though I haven't seen that for a while)

I've had exactly the same and not just at US airports, Gatwick used to do this a lot too.

 

[Worthai Seagull]

I travel a lot on business and everytime you take the laptop out of the case and place in its own tray to go through the scanner.

a while ago 4 or 5 years back, during trips OUT OF US airports they asked for you to turn laptop on and as soon as the windows startup box appeared they waved you through (Though I haven't seen that for a while)

Yes exactly....all the airport authorities are worried about is that the laptop is a laptop and not an explosive device . End of. A plane ,to my knowledge , has never been blown out of the sky because of the content of a laptop !

 

[bhaexpress]

They'd make sure you missed your flight for a start.

Yes but they would leave themselves open to legal action if they don't have just cause.

 

[hans kraay fan club]

I am pretty sure that customs have more to worry about than a few pirate mp3's and a smutty search history.

 

[Sergei Gotsmanov]

Do you really think I just made it up for the fun of it......

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/150465.stmht
http://www.pprune.org/archive/index.php/t-314066.html
http://www.anorak.co.uk/179134/anorak-in-new-york/us-customs-check-your-laptops.html/
http://ask.metafilter.com/45339/Customs-and-laptops

Here's a bit more on how they do it......http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/08/cyber/articles/15border.html

 

[Sergei Gotsmanov]

Fair enough I might be worrying about nothing....several of you do a lot more travelling than I do.....but it can and does happen.

 

[bn1&bn3 Albion]

I've never had my laptop checked and neither has my dad who flies nationally and internationally about 15/20 times a year.

 

[Worthai Seagull]

Fair enough I might be worrying about nothing....several of you do a lot more travelling than I do.....but it can and does happen.

You are worrying totally about nothing.......believe all of us here. OR.. go and by an i pod..put all your music etc on that and put yourself out of this misery !

 

[Jimbo.GRFC]

Travel a fair bit and although it's irritating to have to put your laptop through security on it's own I have never had a single query about it. They seem to like giving me body scans though,

Also like to nick your after shave and other smelly's etc. I once questioned them on this policy as they put it in a large waste bin and was told it was disposed of environmentally. What struck me was how nice our airport security smelt ! Strange that

 

[Sergei Gotsmanov]

I am pretty sure that customs have more to worry about than a few pirate mp3's and a smutty search history.

Agreed.....but it doesn't hurt to be on guard....could easily result in a spoiled holiday or business trip and a fine!

Admittedly it is a very grey area as proving anything dodgy found was viewed or received intentionally is hard to prove....it is very easy to receive junk mail or be misdirected to a dodgy website that leaves traces on your computer.

 

[Sergei Gotsmanov]

You are worrying totally about nothing.......believe all of us here. OR.. go and by an i pod..put all your music etc on that and put yourself out of this misery !

Will do....just wanted to ask the question...i now bow to the experiences of the NSC masses.

 

[fork me]

I think they can yes. Anything with a password is a bit of a red flag and shows that there is something to be hidden/protected.

yeah, like, er, your online banking details for example. I have three accounts in two different countries so can't possibly remember all the codes for all of them. The most secure way of hiding them is in a password protected file.

I also have some confidential work related stuff in password protected files as well for confidentiality reasons.

I use TruCrypt, it's an awesome program. It creates a virtual drive and hides it inside a file with no extension. There's no way of even telling it's a TruCrypt file. You can even hide a virtual drive inside a virtual drive and have two passwords, one opens the fake file with something nondescript in it, the real password opens what you actually want, meaning that if you ARE forced to give a password, you can just give the first one.

 

[Worthai Seagull]

yeah, like, er, your online banking details for example. I have three accounts in two different countries so can't possibly remember all the codes for all of them. The most secure way of hiding them is in a password protected file.

I also have some confidential work related stuff in password protected files as well for confidentiality reasons.

I use trucrypt, it's an awesome program. It creates a virtual drive and hides it inside a file with no extension. There's no way of even telling it's a trucrypt file. You can even hide a virtual drive inside a virtual drive and have two passwords, one opens the fake file with something nondescript in it, the real password opens what you actually want, meaning that if you are forced to give a password, you can just give the first one.

ffs...it doesnt happen.. Customs are not interested in personal details. They want to know if the f***ing laptop is an explosive device . Thats all . End of

 

[bhaexpress]

Also like to nick your after shave and other smelly's etc. I once questioned them on this policy as they put it in a large waste bin and was told it was disposed of environmentally. What struck me was how nice our airport security smelt ! Strange that

There's a reason, those bottles could disguise a bomb, it's a fairly well known fact.

 

[fork me]

As far as the customs thing goes, in the least two years my laptop has been through Gatwick, Heathrow, Larnaca, Paphos, Rome, Milan, Prague, Abu Dhabi, Beirut, Athens and Bangkok and never been checked once.

 

[fork me]

ffs...it doesnt happen.. Customs are not interested in personal details. They want to know if the f***ing laptop is an explosive device . Thats all . End of

Why are you telling ME this? I never said it did, merely explained why some people, like myself, use password protected files for stuff that isn't in any way dodgy and advised a bloody good program for doing it.

HTH

 

[Locky]

Was in Italy a couple of years ago and when trying to return to the UK was asked to switch my laptop on. The guy then asked to look at the C drive, and asked a couple of questions about files there. Guess I look dodgy