Charge Your Phone or Lose It to the TSA on Flights to the U.S.

If your phone or tablet won’t turn on at certain airport security checks, you may have to abandon your device overseas. The Department of Homeland Security is allegedly worried people could use these objects as “undetectable bombs,” so as a precaution, the TSA is adding the new requirement to the long list of things it checks for. As if getting through airport security wasn’t already ridiculous enough, what with people hopping around in socks and bare feet, trying to find every last drop of liquid in their bags and having their tweezers confiscated, now travelers have to worry about their electronics having enough juice.

Pretty soon we may be asked to travel naked, lest someone learns to fashion a bomb out of a bra and a pair of socks.

Politico:

“As the traveling public knows, all electronic devices are screened by security officers,” the TSA said Sunday. “During the security examination, officers may also ask that owners power up some devices, including cell phones. Powerless devices will not be permitted onboard the aircraft.”

The agency said it would continue to adjust its security measures to ensure that travelers are “guaranteed the highest levels of aviation security conducted as conveniently as possible.”…Appearing on NBC’s “Meet The Press” on Sunday before the TSA’s announcement, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said the administration was trying to balance customer convenience and security.

“I believe that we have taken the appropriate measures to deal with the existing situation and not unnecessarily burden the traveling public,” he said, adding: “There remains a terrorist threat.”

Read more

—Posted by Natasha Hakimi Zapata