jal@valhalla.ee.rochester.edu (02/09/88)
With the recent discussion on laptops through airports I wanted to relate a short story. A friend of mine was travelling through LAX on her way to the East Coast with a camera (loaded with film). She didn't want to risk exposing the film to X-Rays so she handed the camera to a guard for a hand check. When she went to the other side of the conveyer and asked for her camera back the guards replied "What camera? You never handed us a camera." She complained and went off to find a supervisor. In the meantime the guards moved the camera somewhere else. The supervisor returned and said "I know you've done this before now give her back her camera". The reply was "What camera?". This is a second hand story, but I have no reason to suspect my friend was lying. It sure is going to make me think twice about handing anything over to the security guards.
rjg@sialis.mn.org (Robert J. Granvin) (02/11/88)
>A friend of mine was travelling through LAX on her way >to the East Coast with a camera (loaded with film). She >didn't want to risk exposing the film to X-Rays so she >handed the camera to a guard for a hand check. When she >went to the other side of the conveyer and asked for her >camera back the guards replied "What camera? You never >handed us a camera." > >She complained and went off to find a supervisor. In the >meantime the guards moved the camera somewhere else. The >supervisor returned and said "I know you've done this before >now give her back her camera". The reply was "What camera?". The fatal flaw was listed above. "She complained and went off to find a supervisor". When you are in a public place, with very little direction to go (at security stations, the only ways you can go is up the hallway, or down the hallway. There aren't several directions one can go), you don't give the "suspects" (gotta use the right terms! :-) any opportunity to leave. Once she left, she gave the security personnel opportunity to move the camera so it was no longer at the station. At that point you've suddenly made it "your word against theirs". In this case, you'd probably never be able to prove your point without witnesses, and the only witnesses are moving through the area at a rapid pace. The correct procedure would be to stand your ground, keep the personnel in plain view and have someone _else_ (a companion, or if alone, a passerby) summon the appropriate personnel. Don't give them the opportunity to leave with your property. Of course, if you can't find anyone willing to help (unlikely at an airport as large as LAX, just make a stink. Someone will eventually show up. :-) -- _____________________________________________________________________________ | Robert J. Granvin | UNIVERSE: rjg@sialis.mn.org | | | 2701 West 43rd Street | EARTH: ...ihnp4!bungia!sialis!rjg | Up the voltage! | | Minneapolis, MN 55410 | ...uunet!rosevax!ems!sialis!rjg |_________________|
heiby@mcdchg.UUCP (Ron Heiby) (02/17/88)
I just returned from the Usenix conference in Dallas. I passed through airport security three times at two airports. Each time, I was carrying my Toshiba 1200 (bought based on info from comp.sys.ibm.pc, Thanks!) and asked that it be hand inspected. The security people were friendly, impressed by the technology, and simply required that I power on the system to prove that it was "real". No big deal. -- Ron Heiby, heiby@mcdchg.UUCP Moderator: comp.newprod & comp.unix "Intel architectures build character."
jnj@mibte.UUCP (Jim Jackson) (02/26/88)
In article <4347@mcdchg.UUCP>, heiby@mcdchg.UUCP (Ron Heiby) writes: > I just returned from the Usenix conference in Dallas. I passed through > airport security three times at two airports. Each time, I was carrying > my Toshiba 1200 (bought based on info from comp.sys.ibm.pc, Thanks!) and > asked that it be hand inspected. The security people were friendly, > impressed by the technology, and simply required that I power on the system > to prove that it was "real". No big deal. > -- I just went to a class in San Diego, carrying a Zenith laptop. At Detroit Metro Airport, I asked to have the laptop hand-inspected and the guard handed me a sheet of paper (without saying a word) that stated because of problems with staff, they don't hand-inspect ANYTHING, but their equipment would not damage film, disk media, tape, etc. I asked to still have it inspected and was told to "please put in on the belt." I could tell he'd been through this before. There was no damage after all, but while I was there, some people had asked to have their cameras hand-inspected and were given the same notice to read. It could be that the intensity at Detroit is less than other security check-points - I would still ask for the hand-inspection when ever you travel. At San Diego they asked me to power up the laptop so they could see text on the screen and I had no problems there. Jim Jackson Michigan Bell