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TSA gave my MacBook Pro to another passenger at LAX, and now it's gone

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Re: TSA gave my MacBook Pro to another passenger at LAX, and now it's gone

#181

Post by btreesOfSpring »

MOARDONGZPLZ wrote: post #146
cognivore wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> I don't get why this was deemed an accident. Reading the story, there is this little voice saying in the back of my head, "They don't want to treat it as a crime because they know who has it and they're in cahoots."

I would really, really doubt this. My assumption is that they either: 1. They have statistics that they have to keep up, and having a ding like "a crime was committed on your watch" isn't a good thing, so they try to avoid it, or 2. Classifying it as a crime versus an accident comes with a load of paperwork and hassle for everybody involved that no one wants to do. I really don't think this was malicious in the manne…

not the same but congruent but there was the baggage theft ring[0] at JFK that focused on easily resalable electronics (and other goods).

[0] http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/baggage-theft-...

Re: TSA gave my MacBook Pro to another passenger at LAX, and now it's gone

#182

Post by imtringued »

cwilkes wrote: post #147
howlingfantods wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be fair, MacBook Pros pretty much all look the same on the outside. She probabaly just thought it was hers, stuffed it in her bag, and went to catch her flight.

I thought that ... So why isn't there a spare MacBook Pro laying around the security line? Hey, a name game: MacRoulette. You put your laptop through security with a bunch of others and you grab a random one. Practice safe computing and always have a backup.

Bonus points for those who leave a note with their password between screen and keyboard!

Re: TSA gave my MacBook Pro to another passenger at LAX, and now it's gone

#184

Post by josho »

giarc wrote: post #163
pthreads wrote: post #157

I have noticed that in Indian airports passengers are given a numbered token and a duplicate placed in the bin with the laptop before it passes through the x-ray machine. After passing through the security scan the passenger has to present the token to the agents who will then match it with the one in the bin and only then hand it to him/her. I can't understand why TSA won't follow such a simple scheme that greatly i…

I've seen videos of security screening lines hundreds of meters long at one of Chicago's airports, this process would only make them longer.

I recommend that you take a flight to LAX/MCO, then a day at Disney and compare TSA's procedures for getting folks through a line compared to Disney.

The single best action that the TSA could take is to hire a Disney staffer to consult on how to move large numbers of people through a line as there is much to be improved on moving folks through TSA screenings at a quicker pace without lowering the quality of screenings.

Re: TSA gave my MacBook Pro to another passenger at LAX, and now it's gone

#185

Post by imtringued »

blowski wrote: post #81
yoo1I wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For starters it wouldn't lower overall security by all that much[0] [0] http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/investigation-breaches-u...

So if JFK Airport removed TSA and just let people walk on to the plane, would you board one? I sure as hell wouldn't. I don't know what I don't know about international security. I don't have access to the NSA and CIA files about international terrorism. Sure, some of it is overplayed for certain people's agendas, but it's very clearly an actual risk that needs actual solutions. The TSA may not be the best one, but i…

>So if JFK Airport removed TSA and just let people walk on to the plane, would you board one? I sure as hell wouldn't.

I would argue that more people would take short flights.

Re: TSA gave my MacBook Pro to another passenger at LAX, and now it's gone

#186

Post by imtringued »

blowski wrote: post #101
gonzo wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> So if JFK Airport removed TSA and just let people walk on to the plane, would you board one? Yes.

Do you think people aren't trying to attack planes, or that the TSA has zero effectiveness in stopping those people?

People are also attacking security check lines with very high effectivity-

Re: TSA gave my MacBook Pro to another passenger at LAX, and now it's gone

#188

Post by imtringued »

gchadwick wrote: post #24

Whilst the TSA agents should be taking more care to ensure valuables are returned to the correct person, there are several agents working on a single line. The person who saw him place the computer into the x-ray would be different from the person handing items back so it's not all that surprising that didn't know who it belonged to and was just assuming people were being honest. Any frequent flyer will know return o…

>I feel he should share some of the blame

And he tried to get it back immediately. Would you blame him for that too?

Re: TSA gave my MacBook Pro to another passenger at LAX, and now it's gone

#189

Post by saryant »

petecooper wrote: post #96
manojlds wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Really? I have seen it everywhere I have been - Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Coimbatore, Kolkatta.

Perhaps parent was referring to airports outside of India?

I've seen that used in lots of airports in Asia.

Re: TSA gave my MacBook Pro to another passenger at LAX, and now it's gone

#190

Post by edwhitesell »

tmalsburg2 wrote: post #178

Two weeks ago I traveled in the US and after the scan they first handed me my own computer and then a minute later someone else's MacBook Pro. I said that the Mac isn't mine, and you know what, they didn't believe me. I had to tell them several times that I don't own a Mac and I had to show them that I had already received my own computer. I think they didn't want to look for the owner and just wanted to get rid of t…

This is probably part of the liability/insurance aspect of it as well. As long as they are in possession of it, they could damage it or lose it. Someone is probably training them to just get rid of it ASAP.
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