# TSA changes screening reqs for tablets and ereaders **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 26, 2017, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsa-changes-screening-reqs-for-tablets-and-ereaders/792195 "2017-07-26T20:56:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2017, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsa-changes-screening-reqs-for-tablets-and-ereaders/792195/1 "2017-07-26T20:56:10Z")
I just saw [this article](http://money.cnn.com/2017/07/26/news/tsa-electronic-tablet-ipad-screening/index.html) on new security requirements for tablets and readers. > [@](#): > > The Transportation Security Administration said on Wednesday it’s boosting security measures by requiring any carry-on electronic larger than a cellphone to be screened separately at U.S. airports. > > The new screening will apply to devices like e-readers, iPads, and tablets. As the new procedures are phased in, TSA officers will ask passengers to take out their small electronics and “place them in a bin with nothing on top or below” – just like laptops have been scanned for years, the agency said in a statement on Wednesday. I travel fairly frequently, so this would be a PITA if I weren’t TSA Pre. I thought others who travel might want to know this is coming. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2017, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsa-changes-screening-reqs-for-tablets-and-ereaders/792195/2 "2017-07-26T22:33:36Z")
I’ll be traveling internationally in a couple of months and haven’t flown (even domestically) in forever, so I appreciate this! One of the things on My List is to look up current TSA regs. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2017, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsa-changes-screening-reqs-for-tablets-and-ereaders/792195/3 "2017-07-27T05:13:20Z")
> [@Misnomer](#): > > I’ll be traveling internationally in a couple of months and haven’t flown (even domestically) in forever, so I appreciate this! One of the things on My List is to look up current TSA regs. That’s actually darn good advice if you haven’t flown in just a month. Things are in a state of flux and their website is definitely aimed at providing the info you need in a form pretty easy for the public to digest. If you are traveling internationally, you definitely want to check the website for the destination country’s customs, immigration, and aviation security agencies. There are lots of ways to be kosher for leaving the US but not for getting into wherever. Or vice versa. The airlines are real careful to not carry you without the necessary passport and visa(s), since we get to transport you back for free if we screw that up. OTOH, we have no problem bringing you to e.g. Mexico with 5 laptops in your carry-on and a pistol in your checked luggage. Each of which is a major violation that will see you speaking to the Federales in a windowless room for quite awhile. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2017, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsa-changes-screening-reqs-for-tablets-and-ereaders/792195/4 "2017-07-27T07:06:39Z")
I have a friend who is a pilot – he flies 2- or 4-seater planes that he rents from his flying club, e.g., [this one](http://www.airport-data.com/aircraft/photo/000128982.html). I think he’s close to getting his commercial rating. When I want to fly somewhere, I think I’ll just hire him to take me. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2017, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsa-changes-screening-reqs-for-tablets-and-ereaders/792195/5 "2017-07-27T13:03:34Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > I have a friend who is a pilot… When I want to fly somewhere, I think I’ll just hire him to take me. I’m sure you’ll be thinking “This is so much easier than going through security, and less awkward!” Until the pat-down. I do wonder how universal these rules will be. I was just on a multi-state trip, and was surprised at the differences from one airport to another. Taking off shoes or not, full body scan or not, even taking off coat! I got through security in Trenton in about five minutes (not too surprising, it’s tiny; their baggage claim is a trailer you walk through). ---
**Author:** ![chaika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chaika/32/405_2.png) [@chaika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaika)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2017, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsa-changes-screening-reqs-for-tablets-and-ereaders/792195/6 "2017-07-27T13:13:30Z")
This rule is already standard in parts of Europe. When I travel I go through a mental checklist: in the US, shoes off; in Europe, shoes stay on, etc. The list used to include the different rules for tablets but I guess now I can follow the same procedure everywhere. A silver lining amid the security theater, I suppose. ---
**Author:** ![Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tastes_of_chocolate/32/3232_2.png) [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2017, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsa-changes-screening-reqs-for-tablets-and-ereaders/792195/7 "2017-07-28T02:42:09Z")
Saving the world, one iPad at a time. More security theater to the rescue! ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2017, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsa-changes-screening-reqs-for-tablets-and-ereaders/792195/8 "2017-07-28T06:05:13Z")
> [@chaika](#): > > This rule is already standard in parts of Europe. When I travel I go through a mental checklist: in the US, shoes off; in Europe, shoes stay on, etc. The list used to include the different rules for tablets but I guess now I can follow the same procedure everywhere. A silver lining amid the security theater, I suppose. ‘Belt off’ is one of the worst - flying from UK to Spain one time, wearing baggy shorts, I was instructed to take off my belt (heavy metal buckle) - so I did, and walked through the arch with one hand clasping the top of my shorts. Of course the sounder went off because of some metal somewhere. Stand over here and lift your arms up to the sides. Shorts fell to ankles. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2017, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsa-changes-screening-reqs-for-tablets-and-ereaders/792195/9 "2017-07-28T11:53:51Z")
Because the TSA is so very, very good at [doing their job](http://www.theblaze.com/news/2017/07/06/report-minneapolis-tsa-failed-95-percent-of-security-check-tests/) already, this is definitely going to turn things around. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2017, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsa-changes-screening-reqs-for-tablets-and-ereaders/792195/10 "2017-07-28T12:31:27Z")
I travel very frequently too, and for the last year or so Kansas City has always made us screen tablets and “anything bigger than a cell phone.” Many other airports I visit do as well. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2017, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsa-changes-screening-reqs-for-tablets-and-ereaders/792195/11 "2017-07-28T17:01:43Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Things are in a state of flux Yeah, I plan to wait until about a week before the flight to look up the latest rules/guidelines. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![dogbutler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dogbutler/32/428_2.png) [@dogbutler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dogbutler)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2017, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsa-changes-screening-reqs-for-tablets-and-ereaders/792195/12 "2017-07-28T18:22:33Z")
> [@Misnomer](#): > > Yeah, I plan to wait until about a week before the flight to look up the latest rules/guidelines. 🙂 I’m flying in 10 days. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2017, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsa-changes-screening-reqs-for-tablets-and-ereaders/792195/13 "2017-07-30T14:27:58Z")
> [@dogbutler](#): > > I’m flying in 10 days. So you’ll be looking them up _now_, then? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![dogbutler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dogbutler/32/428_2.png) [@dogbutler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dogbutler)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2017, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsa-changes-screening-reqs-for-tablets-and-ereaders/792195/14 "2017-08-01T11:10:44Z")
> [@Misnomer](#): > > So you’ll be looking them up _now_, then? 😃 Yep.😃 ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2017, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsa-changes-screening-reqs-for-tablets-and-ereaders/792195/15 "2017-08-01T15:06:10Z")
Been doing it myself anyway… both unpacking the reader and checking the latest regs as the date approaches.