12 ms·
'My £1,000 Macbook Air was stolen at airport security and no one cares'
- kylehotchkiss 9y agoWould the police in this case still provide a police report? Maybe that + insurance could cover a new laptop. It's so easy to backup everything for free these days. Google Drive/Dropbox if you don't care about encryption or Arq.app if you do, Time Machine if you have a spare hard drive at home.
- dalore 9y agoThe article says insurance only paid £500.
- gruez 9y ago>It's so easy to backup everything for free these days. Google Drive/Dropbox if you don't care about encryption those let you back up maybe 50GB (if you abuse all the promos), which is pretty small.
- CoachRufus87 9y agoUse Arq, backup to Backblaze storage, and pay $0.005/GB/month. That 50 GB would cost $0.25 a month. If you can afford a MacBook, you can afford an encrypted cloud backup of your HD.
- jethro_tell 9y agoI think that once you've paid for enough school, you can't afford not to backup your dissertation.
- gowld 9y agoYou travel with 50GB of original content for personal use?
- dharma1 9y agoif you shoot lots of 4k video or raw photos, you can easily burn through a couple of 64gb sd cards on travels
- bdcravens 9y agoInsurance will pay in a few weeks, and odds are you need your machine before then. (Maybe tomorrow depending on the nature of travel) We're not talking a home break-in; we're talking a process where it was in your possession, you're required to go through a government mandated process, and the result of the process means your property only a few feet away was stolen, within a couple of minutes. If I had to replace that machine, we're talking hundreds of dollars (or more) a day in lost productivity, plus the lost productivity when restoring my backup.
- galfarragem 9y agoUnfortunately this is a recurrent pattern in our times: unless is something really serious (like a murder) no one cares. A friend of mine waited 3 months to get police to read his report about an e-robbery despite presenting concrete info about the robber. No one cares.
- zelon88 9y agoSomeone I know wanted to take apart an old car I had for a project to take parts he needed. When I declined he came back when nobody was home and tried to cut the parts out in a hurry, damaging a lot of the engine and smashing both headlights for fun. I filed a police report and even gave them a name, address, and phone number. There was no doubt in anyones mind who had committed the crime, but because Police work in a small town must be so difficult nothing ever happened. No phone calls, no follow-ups, no consequences. Makes me wonder if the police only take action in personal loss cases when the person losing is a business. They'll send three cruisers and half a dozen cops to a shoplifting incident at a grocery store with an impoverished perp, but if there's going to be any kind of he-said-she-said and nobody's dead or injured you're on your own. I believe that policing in the United States is becoming more and more a method for controlling the masses rather than means to an end.
- busterarm 9y agoPolicing, since the very beginning of its history, has only ever been about controlling the masses.
- gowld 9y agoNot "only". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peelian_principles https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peelian_principles
- Someone1234 9y agoAnd it actually works. Police in the UK are far from perfect, but they definitely feel a lot closer to part of the community than elsewhere. When you see those videos of a police officer dancing or getting involved in the activity they're protecting, it isn't uncommon for it to be British police officers doing it. Unfortunately they're under-funded and given too much paperwork, but regardless other police around the world could pick up Peelian as a way forward. It is definitely quite different from an "Us Vs. Them" attitude though.
- analogmemory 9y agoThis has always worried me. Once you're through the scanner you're free to loiter at the end of the conveyor belt. No one will bother you and I doubt TSA will blink an eye if you were to grab something and put it in your bag.
- soapdog 9y agoa somewhat similar situation happened with a friend of mine in LAX. It is not the same because the laptop was not stolen, what happened was that he picked someone else macbook pro and the other person picked his. He only realized that upon arriving here in Brazil. After phoning the airport and having a friend from LA walk there. He got hold of the real owner of the laptop (he noticed before flight and filled a missing item request at the airport). After some back and forth they managed to exchange their laptops back over FedEx. So in the end, nothing but money was lost as they both got hold of their own laptops back but this should have never happened in the first place if the TSA or whoever is in the scanning machines took care of what is happening. If we can put with all the trouble regulation and schemes, they can do a better job of paying attention to the process. There are more than one person per machine already...
- jgh 9y agoSome backpack makers (such as North Face) make TSA Approved backpacks that allow you to keep your laptop in the bag through the scanner. They basically open up like a book and the laptop is held in a pocket where the shoulder straps attach, so there is nothing above or below it.
- soapdog 9y agoI have one of those (from Timbuk2), the main reason I purchased it was because it was TSA Approved and yet TSA never allowed me to keep my laptop inside it, even with it open like a book, nothing else inside it, they still required me to remove it every time...
- praneshp 9y agoSame here. TSA allows it at times, but not in SFO or SJC. And asian airports, including Changi, don't allow it. I like the bag though so not too angry.
- jgh 9y agoReally? I've never had problems with my Surge II Transit. The only time I've run into troubles is when I'm in an international airport and go "But this is TSA approved..." to which the usual response is an angry "Sir, we're not TSA."
- jaysonelliot 9y agoI left BOTH of my laptops at the TSA checkpoint at O'Hare a few weeks ago. The TSA folks actually went to the trouble of opening the laptop, saw my flight info which happened to be on the screen, and contacted the gate, who called me up so I could go get it. Experiences vary. In my case, the TSA went above and beyond to save me from my own stupidity.
- rhodysurf 9y agoThe screen wasnt locked?
- gowld 9y agoDoes the TSA have a key to open laptops?
- merinowool 9y agoThey have master password
- akshat_h 9y agoWindows displays calendar appointments on the lock screen. Not sure about Mac. Maybe that was what they saw and flight name was part of it?
- draw_down 9y agoI left an iPad in a seat back once, and didn't realize until I was outside of security. When I told security what happened, I was given a special pass to go back and get it, and the gate agent let me have it only after I accurately described it. As you mention, experiences vary. For me, the most frustrating and awful part of airports and flying is consistently the other travelers, not TSA or airline employees.
- ggg9990 9y agoHehe... how do you accurately describe an iPad?
- abritinthebay 9y agoThis is why I use one of those "TSA friendly" bags for my laptop: it never leaves the bag, I just unzip it and lay the bag flat. I'd be furious if this was me tho.
- dijit 9y agoFWIW; you're not allowed to do this in Europe (at least in the airports I've been in). I spent extra money on a TSA friendly backpack too, so I'm bummed. :( All items must be in a tray, electronics have to be in a separate tray and not stacked.
- sitepodmatt 9y agoYep same in most airports in SE Asia too. TSA made everyone's job harder, sorry I mean travel safer, by banning more than 100ml of liquid, so nowadays probably reluctant to adopt more TSA rules even if they are now somewhat logical.
- gowld 9y agoSE Asia airport security procedure is determined by TSA, even though they don't follow TSA procedures?
- sitepodmatt 9y agoI don't know the exact details, but everyone adopted the silly 100ml liquid max per bottle nonsense post 9/11?, but the rest of stuff such TSA approved laptop bags are not in practice or at least not known by the contracted staff operating the machines and scans I've experienced in SE Asia.
- wafflebear 9y agoI believe the regulations on liquids are set by ICAO which is part of the UN. Sometimes the US sets extra security requirements for flights to/from/in the US.
- wafflebear 9y agoSingapore has the best system, you are given a plastic token with a number corresponding to the number on your tray. When you come out the other side of security and want to collect your tray, you have to present the plastic token otherwise they won't give you your tray back. That other airports don't implement this system continues to astonish me.
- sitepodmatt 9y agoIt surprises me that other major airports choose to independently innovate without just copying Changi (Singapore's airport). Everything from free cinemas, to carpeted walkways, to water taps, to efficent immigration and security and more.
- speeq 9y agoI didn't like the carpeted walkways there to be honest since it just made it more difficult to pull my hand luggage.
- lostlogin 9y agoHeavy stuff and soft surfaces don’t mix. A hospital nearby has carpets in places. The staff pushing the half ton x-ray machine leave furrows like they are plowing a paddock.
- sitepodmatt 9y agoMaybe part of the plan, it's difficult to enforce hand luggage limitations at airports without adding extra checks, but if you exceed 10kg that overweight suitcase is going to make some drag on carpet. Small nudges, similarly how BA cabin crew are instructed to never help anyone put their luggage in the overhead bin unless they have a suitable reason.
- r00fus 9y ago> BA cabin crew are instructed to never help anyone put their luggage in the overhead bin unless they have a suitable reason. Is this for real? Sucks, but I can imagine most fellow passengers pick up the slack... at least I've always helped others (and vice-versa) in the US.
- hedora 9y agoThe only counter example to this story I’ve heard involved San Francisco International. The TSA / luggage handlers were repeatedly stealing things from checked luggage. Of course, nothing was done to follow up on the police reports that were filed. Then, one day, airport security stole a checked service revolver from a retired cop. Once that was reported, the police immediately ran a sting operation, and arrested the perpetrators. Not sure what the moral of the story is.
- praneshp 9y agoSFO is weird. Last time I travelled, an older officer asked me to keep my (not smart, but metal for sure) watch on, unless I wanted to lose it. Didn't inspire a lot of confidence in the security check or the system.
- sseveran 9y agoSFO is hardly the only airport where this has been occurring. A TSA employee at Newark stole $800K worth of items. https://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/convicted-tsa-officer-reveals-secrets-thefts-airports/story?id=17339513 https://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/convicted-tsa-officer-reveals...
- gowld 9y agoWow. I'd love for a campaign to raise fund to buy airport ads (or post guerrilla flyers) warning travelers about TSA criminal activity. TSA is more dangerous than what they are supposedly protecting traveler from.
- sjm-lbm 9y agoI'd suspect that this is a widespread(-ish) problem. When you check your bag, it leaves your control and is handed off between TSA and your airline just enough that they both have plausible deniability when something goes missing. If something goes missing, they'll be happy to start pointing fingers at each other - trust me.
- petermcneeley 9y agoWe know the score. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lru1Qxc1l8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lru1Qxc1l8
- tedunangst 9y ago> The pain is made worse by the ransom note she received from the thief. She had remotely shut the Apple Mac down and left a message stating that she needed it back as it contained vital dissertation and other work, and would pay a reward for its return. What's the ransom???
- etaty 9y agoAirport security is a farce. DutyFree shops are selling what should not be in a plane, not even discussing the batteries. The experience feel like an animal going to the slaughterhouse, except they don't put you to sleep yet.
- nickjj 9y agoLast month I flew out of San Jose, CA's airport. They were very behind schedule from what I gathered from talking to people in line (it was my first time there). They didn't even ask us to take our shoes off or go through the spinning metal thing or unpack electronics / liquids from our carry-ons. I walked clean through with a do it yourself mBot robot kit[0] that wasn't in the box. It was just a bunch of loose parts thrown into a compartment of a backpack. I imagine from a random person's POV, this could have looked like a build your own bomb kit. In the TSA's defense they did have a dog sniffing around the line. Not sure if that's standard. It was the first time I've flown since the TSA started. [0]: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1818505613/mbot-49-educational-robot-for-each-kid https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1818505613/mbot-49-educ...
- fareesh 9y ago> She has been refused access to footage identifying the crook because of data protection rules. I am really speechless
- jacquesm 9y agoThis is going to be commonplace. The other day RaboBank in NL refused to stop spamming me citing 'privacy concerns'. No kidding. After escalating it to a supervisor the situation was quickly resolved but still, that was pretty dumb.
- tedunangst 9y agoTomorrow: "the airport gave my picture to a stranger without a warrant!"
- fareesh 8y agoIsn't the whole point of collecting security camera data for security? I don't understand how using the data for its intended purpose is breaking the law
- ypeterholmes 9y agoCertainly the story here is about the negligence of Airport Security, but let this also be a lesson to the girl about backing up your work to the cloud.
- drdebug 9y agoSo the only safe way is to not take the laptop out, then they'll call you and ask you to get it out ?
- FearNotDaniel 9y agoThis should be the top reply here. As a frequent flyer, I am worried about this issue every single time. But your suggestion is awesome: the suitcase containing the laptop will be kept safely behind the security line until you have passed through the bodyscanner, shoe swipe, blah blah security theatre; then you can wait there and watch it like a hawk when it comes back out of the machine. Of course, at a seriously inefficient spot like "London" Stansted this will add about 20-30 mins to your time to clear security, thanks to understaffing and the enormous proportion of Italian/Spanish teenagers who don't pay attention to any of the warnings about removing all the cosmetics from their luggage. End result being a constant backlog of bags to be hand-checked. But that's probably better than losing your laptop. And at a well-run terminal like Heathrow 2 you're only looking at an extra five minutes to get it rechecked. I might just try this on my next flight...
- csomar 9y agoOnly one time I got away with it. And I tried it every single time. The agent looks at me and "Sir, do you have any laptop in your bag?". Maybe something about my appearance?
- andrewla 9y agoI understand that this is a bad experience, but I have to think that it is so rare as to make any attempt at mitigation far worse than the current system. Since everything is on camera, and strong identification is required to pass through security, committing a theft like this is tantamount to turning yourself in to the police. While there may be a short-term gain from such a theft, in the end, the police know exactly who you are and you will get caught. The timeframe of closure is an unpleasant experience, but far better than if someone just grabbed your laptop in a Starbucks and ran off with it.
- curun1r 9y agoI've got a mitigation strategy that won't be far worse than the current system. Stop requiring expensive gadgets like laptops and tablets to be removed and scanned separately. It's all security theater anyways, but that policy just separates valuable, easily-to-fence items from luggage and facilitates theft. While we're at it, stop requiring us to take off our shoes, since that policy stemmed from a comically failed attempt at terrorism that's just a dumb idea to begin with. There is less opportunity to steal from people when they're not forced to waste time and attention reapplying footwear.
- wafflebear 9y agoYes they may be identified but that doesn't mean they will be apprehended if they are already safely back in their home country.
- thrill 9y agoThe reason they don't care is because they don't have any skin in the game.
- Cypher 9y agoThey don't care because it happens all the time.
- gnode 9y agoI don't really understand this. It says in the article that she was advised to report the theft to the police, and that they would cooperate with the police investigation. Did she refuse to do so for some reason, but instead go to the press?
- Gys 9y ago> However, Manchester and Luton both told Money that they had no set procedure and it was up to the passenger to call police themselves. So first you are forced to be separated from your belongings ('never leave you possesions out of sight') and if something goes wrong it your problem. How convenient. Welcome to a brave new world.
- rdiddly 9y agoBy no means do the following ideas intend to imply that this is OK or that it's a problem that should exist, or that the victims deserve blame. Ugly-up your laptop lid with stickers like a teenager. That makes it distinctive, easy to spot, just slightly less valuable, and just slightly harder to fence. Hang onto your laptop-in-a-tub until the very last possible second before you go through screening, and then insert it on the conveyor? (I've never tried this. For all I know it may work fine or it may get you detained for 17 hours and cavity-searched by over-enthusiastic fascist bureaucrats who are immune to all explanation.) Rise up en masse against our military-industrial overlords? Boycott or curtail air travel? (My personal favorite, even though it's probably playing into somebody's hands.) In case it happens anyway: Encrypt all your drives, keep daily backups, and maintain an insurance policy that covers replacement cost.
- merinowool 9y agoShe could have said she had cocaine hidden in place of battery. That would have been found in no time.