What To Do If the Laptop Ban Goes Global (backchannel.com)

"The U.S. is reportedly seriously considering a greatly expanded ban on laptops in airplane cabins," writes Slashdot reader mirandakatz -- sharing some advice from Dan Gillmor. If the government still allows laptops to be checked in with luggage, "the priority will be to discourage tampering and mitigate the risks associated with theft," he writes, envisioning that "If I have to check mine, I'll pack it in bubble wrap and tape, and do some other things to make it evident if someone has tampered with the machine." But of course there's other precautions: [W]e can travel with bare-bones operating system setups, with as little personal or business data as possible (preferably none at all) on the laptop's internal disk drive. When we arrive and get back online, we can work mostly in browsers and retrieve what we need from cloud storage for the specific applications that have to run "locally" on the PC... You might also get a Chromebook for international travel. Chromebooks run Google's Chrome operating system and keep pretty much all data in Google's cloud. So you could carry a bare Chromebook through a border, go online, and retrieve the information you need. You have to completely trust Google with this method...

[The article also suggests encrypting the hard disk -- along with your phone -- or carrying an external drive.] I use the Ubuntu operating system, and this simplifies creating a special travel setup. In preparation for international hassles, I've put a copy of my OS and essential data files on an encrypted USB thumb drive, which holds 256 gigabytes of data... If I've forgotten to load some specific files, and I have them backed up in the cloud, I can always go there.
Because of all the additional security procedures, he utlimately predicts higher ticket prices, fewer business travellers, and, according to Bruce Schneier, "a new category of 'trusted travelers' who are allowed to carry their electronics onto planes."

Comments

Theft and Damage

[Anonymous Coward]

Honestly, who the heck trusts that their laptop would not be seriously damaged or stolen if they check it in their baggage? I've had things that were MUCH LESS fragile than a laptop completely destroyed in checked baggage.

Re:Theft and Damage

[jfdavis668]

I check my laptop in my baggage every time I fly overseas. I'm not interested in working on the flight. Never had a problem with it. You do have to properly pack it. I have a case specifically made to pack it into your luggage for protection. You can't just throw it on top and close the bag and expect it to survive.

Re:Theft and Damage

[Known Nutter]

Agreed. I put my laptop it its bag -- one of those thick ass Dell bags -- and toss it into my luggage. I've never had an issue.

Avoid travel or leave laptop at home

[religionofpeas]

My plan is to avoid travel by plane as much as I can. And if I really have to travel, then I'm going to leave my laptop at home. I don't trust the baggage handlers not to steal it, so checking in is not an option.

Re:Avoid travel or leave laptop at home

[shmlco]

Sounds like an opportunity for some enterprising company to offer laptop rentals at airports. Pick it up when you arrive, drop it back off on the return.

Re:Avoid travel or leave laptop at home

[shmlco]

Also, stuff like this is just going to push development of autonomous vehicles and their use for business travel and vacation travel even faster.

Won't help for really long-distance or overseas travel, of course, but for regional travel why not bypass all of the airport/airline/TSA BS?

Get in your car the night before, tell it to take you to some other city, then take a nap and wake up when you get there. No lines, no security, and no having to get to the airport two hours ahead of time "just in case"... only to find your flight's been delayed two hours.

Re:Avoid travel or leave laptop at home

[PolygamousRanchKid]

Sounds like an opportunity for some enterprising company to offer laptop rentals at airports.

Some airline is already experimenting with providing laptop loaners for free to business and first class passengers.

Of course, most corporate IT Security folks would rightly ban that for their employees. Given the amount of industrial and personal espionage performed by the NSA, CIA and their pals . . . most folks should just stay away from this anyway.

Hmmm . . . maybe airlines need to offer more options for passengers willing to pay more for tickets? Like, Muslims are banned, but laptops are allowed (the Trump policy) . . . ? No screaming babies or fat folks blubbering over to your side of the seat . . . ?

Banning laptops is not going to "fly well." Business folks, who make more profits for the airlines will cut back on flying. A monthly intercontinental trip will become a quarterly one. When their profits are hurt, the airlines will shit-can the laptop ban.

Re:Avoid travel or leave laptop at home

[Richard_at_work]

Uh, you don't need to hop on a freighter to cross the Atlantic, there are still scheduled passenger liners plying the Atlantic routes, and a crossing can take as little as three days in decent luxury.

Re:Avoid travel or leave laptop at home

[Alypius]

For domestic flights, you could always check your laptop with your firearm (even a starter pistol qualifies). The items in the case are inventoried at both ends of the flight and the law requires a keyed padlock (no TSA locks).

Re:Avoid travel or leave laptop at home

[Jason1729]

The cruise industry makes most of the world reachable by sea. Cunard (who owned the Lusitania) has never stopped their transatlantic service for example. You can cross the atlantic in 5 hours crammed like a sardine in a tin can (after enduring hours of torture and a prostate exam at the airport) or in 7 days on a luxury ocean liner with all entertainment and food included.....For about the same price.

For most people, and obviously all business travellers, 7 days at sea is a deal breaker. For vacationers with plenty of time on their hands, it really isn't a bad option.

Also you sound pretty ignorant when you say not many steamship lines still in existence. The lines are still around, with modern Diesel ships that are every bit as sophisticated as an aircraft carrier.

Re:Avoid travel or leave laptop at home

[quetwo]

I used to fly with a flare gun all the time in my checked luggage. Flare guns are allowed in every state (and even traveling to Canada), require no permits and allow you to follow the TSA "gun" policy. My lock, hard-sided case, fully real-time traceable, and if the airline looses it, they get fined $250,000 -- so they make sure they actually keep track of it. It takes an additional 5 minutes to check-in, and most of the time your luggage will be first off with somebody waiting with it (except for the smallest airports, where you have to go to the luggage office to sign for it). No additional cost to do it except for Spirit.

just take the PC

[ooloorie]

You can travel with something like an Intel NUC Skull Canyon or a Compute Stick and just plug it into the hotel TV's HDMI port. No laptop battery, no fire hazard, etc. Or you can simply use your phone as a computer and plug it into an HDMI port.

You can carry sensitive data on a separate micro-SD card, which, realistically, airport security or passport control won't look for or find unless you're already on a terrorist watch list, in which case a laptop ban is the least of your worries.

Re:just take the PC

[AHuxley]

The security services usually have that smart TV loaded with some extras in most nations. Mic, camera or just looking for the data connection.
That smart TV is the perfect way to see what a guest does, what data they look at, images, movies.. or to turn on a mic/camera if they have guests to talk to their fellow workers on the same trip.

We don't need laptops anymore

[140Mandak262Jamuna]

It is will just erode the market share of laptops. We really don't need lug around a keyboard, screen, pointing device and a battery anymore. Just a simple nexus-4 sized pack with memory and cpu. Docking stations that can take this device and add a keyboard, mouse, pointing device and a screen will hit the market. Hotels will provide it, may be for a fee, may be free. We will have one dock at work and one at home. We might buy and keep more such docks for visitors and guests. This is going to be the future. Will happen whether laptops get banned on planes or not. If laptop ban goes global this will accelerate the timeline.

Re:We don't need laptops anymore

[Anonymous Coward]

And when I need to work at a client, I need their docking station, with complementary keylogger.

And when I need to work around without stopping at a hotel I need to take with me the docking station (lol)

No, laptops are not going anywhere. The only reason the sales are down is because we are hitting the "good enough" target with 4-5 year products, a 3 year laptop is not crap anymore.

Not to mention the absurdity of trying to work on a mobile operating system. You want me to work on android? ios? it's a joke, right?

Re:The reason given makes absolutely no sense

[DrXym]

That is a sensible solution and one that would stop mobile / tablet / laptop manufacturers from sealing in batteries. A double win.

Re:Do it the old fashioned way...

[Hognoxious]

I'm a doctor you insensitive clod, my handwritings already encrypted!

We could do all that shit

[fustakrakich]

Or we could elect a different class of politicians instead of following blind tribalism. Sorry, but all this is self inflicted, and every chance they have, the voters only make it worse.

Re:Do it the old fashioned way...

[__aaclcg7560]

Just don't have any threatening math in your notebook.

I write Roman numerals instead of Arabic numerals. ;)