I get asked to unlock my dev laptop every single time I go from the US to Montreal. The TSA person sits there and waits for my WM to boot before waving me past.

It seems more like they're trying to determine that it is in fact a laptop and not something resembling one.

▲

dylan604 5 hours ago | parent | next [-]

That's been my experience as well. I've visited Sydney twice, and both times I've been asked to light up my devices. Granted, I was on work trips requiring three separate laptops which does probably look suspect, but once they were booted they did not request to browse anything and were satisfied to see them working.

	▲	0cf8612b2e1e 4 hours ago \| parent [-]
		All the more reason to dual boot into a decoy OS. Does not stop a targeted investigation, but lets you pass a cursory examination where some thug might want to rifle through your data. Edit: now I am gleefully thinking about how I would craft my decoy desktop persona. What gives me the most effective non interesting profile.

▲

folmar 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

In EU normally BIOS startup screen is the point at which they wave it as ok.

▲

matheusmoreira 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Now I'm wondering what exactly they're looking for... What else could those devices have been?

	▲	wildzzz an hour ago \| parent \| next [-]
		They are looking to see if you've gutted a laptop and filled it with explosives or drugs. Although tbh, a computer that can launch a desktop doesn't need much physical space and the battery just has to last long enough for a cursory glance.
	▲	0cf8612b2e1e 2 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		Maybe the agent gets lucky and you have a folder full of nudes on the desktop.