My friend wants to bring a laptop on a plane.

Question

I heard that they search your laptop. Is it true? What do they search for? If he brings a laptop with illegally downloaded data what action will security take?

Answer 1

Well, last time I flew they didn't search my laptop, so I'm not sure.

But good luck with that.

Answer 2

They don't search it like that, it just has to go through the xray machine. I brought mine on a plane last month and that's all I had to do.

Answer 3

They dont search whats on your hard drive, they just search the bag and scan the computer.  Can you imagine how long it would take to search everybodies hard drive for illegal content? Security checks would take days.

Answer 4

They don't search the data on it.  They just do a physical search.  Nothing to worry about it.  He won't even have to turn on the laptop.

Answer 5

They have never searched my laptop.

If they do its probably to check e mails and activity on the internet

Answer 6

They don't check the laptop, just the case

Answer 7

I did see on the news that Canada has a deal with U.S. customs (i'm not sure about anywhere else) but they are allowed to view the contents of your files.  If your computer does have pirated material, you have a choice of paying a hefty fine, or have your laptop destroyed.