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posted by martyb on Saturday July 29 2017, @11:17PM   Printer-friendly
from the taking-off-of-the-brave dept.

The saga of the so-called "laptop ban" gains a new chapter today.

Schiphol Airport and KLM (royal Dutch airlines) confirm to well-known Dutch tech website Tweakers that they check tablets, e-readers, laptops, ... (electronics "bigger than a smartphone") to see if the hardware has been opened. [Implicitly, this is about US-bound flights, although the article text doesn't make this explicit] If they suspect so, the airline is notified, who may disallow you from boarding. A spokesperson for Schiphol airport confirms

"The rule is that if we suspect at the security check that the hardware has been opened in a way not consistent with normal use, we report this to the airline. It's up to the airline to take action." (translation mine)

In the article, it's mentioned that a TSA spokesperson confirms the existence of this rule. Apparently, it's a concrete measure following the "Aviation Enhanced Security Measures" of the DHS. The Tweakers article mentions that such 'suspect' electronics are allowed in the luggage area, where "experts say battery explosions can do more harm" than in the passenger compartment (as personnel cannot extinguish fires).

Apparently, this has already caused a few incidents where passengers were stopped and denied boarding at the jet bridge due to a missing screw or "damage to the electronics".


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 30 2017, @06:10AM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 30 2017, @06:10AM (#546574)

    They've totally lost their screws

  • (Score: 2) by frojack on Sunday July 30 2017, @08:10AM (1 child)

    by frojack (1554) on Sunday July 30 2017, @08:10AM (#546595) Journal

    They've totally lost their screws

    No, that's me. I've lost the screw that hold the hard drive caddy in the laptop.
    I've got two drive caddys, and there is a thumb latch the holds them in, but it came with a screw. I tested the thumb latch, it was secure, so the screw went clank in the waste bin. That was on the first day I had the machine.

    What's this say about their Xray technology that now they have to count screws? What about that bomb sniffing beagle, and those baby-wipes they swab over the computer case? All this high tech crap and they are counting screws.

    Let me see the law that specifies I have to have every single screw! The friggin plane drops screws on the tarmac almost every take off. But my computer can't miss one? The TSA is enforcing a maximum shrapnel rule now?

    --
    No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
    • (Score: 2) by kaszz on Sunday July 30 2017, @09:47PM

      by kaszz (4211) on Sunday July 30 2017, @09:47PM (#546845) Journal

      Do the old cut-out-book thing and "hey it's just a big book!" ;-)
      Perhaps there's something less heavy?