TSA-Approved Laptop Bags

Metal-free laptop cases should ease airport security hassles -- but the TSA continues its relentless intrusive ways

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Also, see "Fliers Cheer Laptop Policy Change" from USA Today, August 15 issue, published after I wrote the following report about one of these approved cases.
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First came TSA-approved luggage locks for checked luggage that the Tansportation Security Agency can open but that theoretically others who might wish to riffle through bags. Now from Pathfinder Luggage comes Checkpoint Friendly Compu Brief, a laptop carrier bag that has reportedly been redesigned in accordance with TSA instructions, without metal, zippers, closures or labels that could obscure the view of the computer as it passes through X-ray screening apparatus. The company says that they have tested it California's Ontario Airport and were able to see a clear view of the laptop.

Preorders of the two initial designs, briefcase (estimated at $120-$125) and wheeled ($150-$200), are being accepted at 800-759-9738. In addition to these bags, Pathfinder says that they are developing a fashionable, lighterweight version for the female traveler.

This new product will mean one less thing for laptop-toting flyers to deal with as they remove their shoes, belts and jackets, take keys, change, iPods and cell phones out of their pockets, and drink that last sip of water. However, it will be no solution at all for the Department of Homeland Security's new regulation permitting them to confiscate laptops from international travelers, keep them however they wish, copy information from hard drives, analyze it with forensic software and in other ways trample travelers' civil liberties.

TSA Intrusions Continue Anyway

In a new blog post called "No ID at security: Fast-track to a government “list”? Either way, why are we bothering?," Upgrade: Travel Better details all sorts of reasons not to fly anywhere, convenient new computer bag or not, domestically or internationally, if it involves the TSA. The agency has reportedly been storing personal information from all sorts of government documents about thousands of air travelers who might have forgotten their "government-issued ID" or perhaps had a wallet and driver's license stolen. I you are in that situation, Upgrade: Travel Better notes that "you’re now required to answer 20 questions about your personal life [that] is disturbing. What does this have to do with airplane safety, exactly?"

The blog further notes:

"The TSA has yet to provide an adequate explanation for how checking identification actually enhances security. Yes, there are some bad people who want to blow up planes. But if you actually search them before letting them onboard, then they should be able to walk into the airport carrying a Mickey Mouse Club membership card
and a smile and that should be that. Cockpit doors are locked, pilots have guns,
and passengers aren’t about to take crap in the sky. But you’ll
never get a straight answer out of TSA for why ID checks are necessary for domestic
travelers."

Hear! Hear!