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Comment by plinkplonk | Hacker News Reader

How this works in India.

When you put your laptop in a bin, the security person puts one of two identical tags (pieces of plastic with identical numbers on them) into the bin, on top of your computer and gives you the other one.

When you finish your patdown/metal detector etc screening and want to take your computer back, you give the security person at the other end of the line your tag, she looks around for the bin with the identical tag, and hands you the contents of the bin and takes your tag back.

Not foolproof/fraudproof, but it seems to work in practice.

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Great idea--simple, inexpensive, highly effective when considered relative to its small cost.

Therefore I never expect to see this in a US airport.

"inexpensive"

Just wait until TSA vendors out the development of it :)

Case in point, TSA paid $47,000 for an app that randomly chose for a passenger to go left or right.

$1.4M

http://www.geek.com/apps/tsa-paid-1-4-million-for-randomizer...

$47,400

http://mashable.com/2016/04/04/tsa-ibm-randomizer-app/?utm_c...

Thanks for my newest startup idea!

my friend recently left his macbook pro at the jaipur airport after they made him change security lines. They held onto the computer in security because he didn't hand them the token, he took off to delhi, called the airport, and someone managed to track his macbook down and give it to a friend who he had authorized. incredibly surprising, but he still had his numbered plastic tag in his pocket by accident.

Yes, I have found this to be very practical, but unfortunately they don't do this at all airports.

Really? I have seen it everywhere I have been - Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Coimbatore, Kolkatta.

Perhaps parent was referring to airports outside of India?

I've seen that used in lots of airports in Asia.

I must say while doing transit in Delhi I did not see such a system as well.

when you are transiting you are already inside the 'security zone' so perhaps they don't do another security check?

As someone who flies in and out of Delhi all the time, I can assure you that the security check involves such 'tags'. also procedures for security are standardized across all airports, so it is very unlikely that the process is skipped consistently. I encounter this in the tiniest airports in the country (Trivandrum, Leh) .

Interestingly enough, you can carry your Kindle, phone and/or Ipad in your carry on luggage, but not your laptop. Which doesn't make too much sense, but just the kind of loophole bureaucrats designing security systems come up with.

>when you are transiting you are already inside the 'security zone' so perhaps they don't do another security check?

For what it's worth, they certainly did another check last time I went HKG->DEL->KTM

I'd assume it's just a layout issue with some transits.

> Interestingly enough, you can carry your Kindle, phone and/or Ipad in your carry on luggage, but not your laptop

I have carried my ThinkPad X250 on flights to-and-from Mumbai, even used them during flight.

sorry for the confusion but I meant you can carry your kindle etc inside your carry on bag and don't have to take it out and put it into a tray etc. Your laptop for some reason has to be taken out and put into a separate tray (in Indian airports)

Yesterday, didn't happen for me in the new Mumbai T2 domestic terminal.

Yes I've found that the security procedures at Indian airports I've been to (BOM, BLR) have been quite efficient and feel more commonsense than what we typically deal with here in the US.

I can't attest to their effectiveness though (as a lack of attacks doesn't necessarily mean they're working)

They could hardly be much less effective than US security procedures given that US security procedures catch a low single digit percentage of weapons being taken onto planes.

They do this at Uniqlo when going into the changing rooms if you have to leave your shopping basket.

Simple and effective.

Most Indian supermarkets do something similar for any backpacks etc. that they don't let you take in.

I'm not convinced yet. The scramble to get dressed and snatch your belongings from the pile is already pretty efficient. I'll withhold judgement for now.

DIY by taping a business card to the lid?

Print a big picture of yourself with the word OWNER at the top and tape it to the device.

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