US Lifts Laptop Ban on Etihad, Emirates and Turkish Airlines

&gt;&quot;The department of Homeland Security initiated the ban in March. It came into effect covering all flights to U.S. destinations from 10 airports in the Middle East, including major travel hubs like Dubai, Abu Dabi and Dohar.&quot;<p>So how would a ban at flights originating at these airports prevent someone from exploiting this on a flight with a layover in this airport i.e while the plane was in route to one of these 10 airports?<p>&gt;&quot;While administration officials didn’t comment on any new and specific threats, ...&quot;<p>This is used to justify every questionable action or inaction in the &quot;Endless War on Terror.&quot; The claim is always &quot;we can&#x27;t comment because its an issue of national security.&quot; Do people of that &quot;Nation&quot; have no right to be informed about decisions being made on their behalf? Especially where safety is concerned?<p>Shouldn&#x27;t this information be shared with the citizens of that nation so they can make up their own minds and make informed decisions? This level of infantilizing is just completely unacceptable. Those in the U.S security apparatus seems to take the view that they are parents and everyone else is a child.

I&#x27;m not sure if this has hit the US news, but from a few days go in Argentina news, the US is going to require special scanners in the airports in other countries (Spanish article, English translation below):<p><a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.iprofesional.com&#x2F;notas&#x2F;252113-computadoras-tecnologia--Sumaran-mas-escanners-en-Ezeiza-tras-las-medidas-que-impuso-EEUU" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.iprofesional.com&#x2F;notas&#x2F;252113-computadoras-tecnol...</a><p>&quot;The United States government will strengthen security measures for people traveling to that country with computers and tablets. Official sources from that country confirmed that you can still travel normally, with personal electronic devices. However, they said that in three weeks the stricter controls will apply.<p>....airports and airlines flying to the United States from 105 countries of the world, including Argentina, will be asked to install state-of-the-art scanners that detect traces of explosives in electronic equipment....From the moment they request it, passengers traveling to the USA from airports or by companies that do not have them, will not be able to carry either computers or tablets on board. Nor in the cargo hold....<p>....In this context, the transport authorities, representatives of the airlines and PSA [airport police] officials met urgently this Friday at the headquarters of the Ministry of Transport to discuss the issue. &quot;What we defined is that this Tuesday we are going to communicate to companies a procedural plan: from what types of scanners to how to get them and how we are going to train those who operate them,&quot; explained Oscar Rubio, director of The Airport Security Police, Clarín.<p>In three weeks, passengers of companies or airports that do not have them, will be unable to bring the computers and tablets on board, and perhaps also in the hold because of the current restrictions on equipment containing nickel,&quot; added the official....&quot;The truth is that it is not a difficult technology to get, it can be bought, acquired by leasing or through a supplier, it is not impossible, and we are moving with the fastest speed because we want to prevent the restriction from being applied. Therefore, we are not facing a prohibition, but before a new measure. If it is not fulfilled, then the impediment can come.&quot;

I don&#x27;t understand why these bans are only for specific airlines. Maybe if the flights originate from specific airports which may have lax security. However the ban is also for flights to those destination originating from the US.<p>If there was a way to turn a laptop into a bomb I am sure the terrorist would just jump on a local US aircraft.

On related news, Millimeter wave scanners are being installed in Turkish airports after the lifting of the ban...

is this a thank you token for putting pressure on Qatar?

Laptop bans are such a horrible idea. Yes, entrust a $2000+ dollar piece of hardware (with important software and files) to someone who is barely paid enough to care what happens to it.

This makes me happy. I flew from Istanbul, Turkey to San Francisco, CA, USA while the ban was in place. The actual surrendering my laptop didn&#x27;t bother me much. What did bother me was the humiliation the Turkish Airlines workers had to endure, and how hard I had to work to suppress my desire to complain about the process. Treating a few airlines differently never appealed to me. I &quot;like&quot; &quot;necessary&quot; suffering to be ubiquitous.

The solution to the laptop bans is portable hard drives .Let the $15&#x2F;hour worker lose your laptop. the software and files are more important

I am looking forward to the day where global entry is applied worldwide :&#x2F; breezing through security is pretty nice after being aelected randomly so many times :)