Q:
Why do I have to take my laptop out of my carry-on luggage at the airport
security check? I don't have to remove any of my other electronics.
A: Ann Davis,
public affairs manager for the Transportation Security Administration, says that
"Unlike cellphones and Black-Berrys,
laptops are very often accompanied by power
cords, cables, remote mice and keyboards, making for a cluttered X-ray image if
the laptop is not screened separately." That makes a certain sort of sense, but
having gone through screening processes with my backpack almost bursting with
cables, gadgets and other nerdy detritus, I couldn't help but wonder if there
was something else to the screening process that made laptops a specific threat.
Do laptops somehow block the X-rays, occluding whatever is underneath?
"There are some additional security reasons," Davis says, "but due to
the nature of that explanation, I'm unable to provide further details." She went
on to explain that TSA agents will occasionally remove other items in addition
to "highly dense" laptops to get a clear
image.
