Have you ever been asked for your laptop password at airport security? Is this a thing? I was traveling domestically in Japan and security asked for laptop password. This obviously set off red flags immediately, especially considering I didn’t have a laptop with me. If I did, I would’ve denied them access without question but it’s strange that they even asked me. It wasn’t even customs… just regular ol’ security screening. Also, looking around, I didn’t see any manual inspections of any other laptops around me. It’s as if I was singled out.

Replies (45)

i have never been asked, but i would not give my password. my password are part of company's trade secrets. Ross Technology Services will holds passwords as confidential information becuse we're stupid and use the same password for every website and application. therefore we cannot in good faith provide it. thank you for understanding.
Nunca me pasó ni debería pasar pero que miedo si algún día me toca 🤔
I know that security agencies sometimes ask for passwords or try to convince you to hook your phone up to their device. If you travel often, you might want to have a secondary phone that doesn't have any sensitive information on it. You can (and should) also fully power off your phone when going through security because that'd make it insanely inconvenient for them to waste their time trying to get into your phone since the encryption only fully protects the device when it's powered off.
Good! But if you're ever pressured to do so, powering it off definitely makes it harder for them to try to force their way in. Also know that in the US, police technically don't need a warrant to unlock a device secured by biometrics, so if you use fingerprint/face scan to unlock your phone, it's a possibility that you could be forced to do so.
They are allowed to do it, just tell them that you will only CONSIDER doing it if they put it in writing, in Japan you **always** have a right to refuse it (but this may mean you get thrown out of your flight) If they insist ask for the badge number of the officer and later submit a formal complaint
99% of the time nothing. The other 1%, your flight gets denied and you may get detained for a bit, your device may also be taken into custody. But under no circumstances can they force you to reveal passwords, or even unlock the device for them.
Singled out, or random? I fkn hate all govts so much I wouldn't put it past them, but random is likely more of a policy where they literally just have to ask someone once every few hours or something
I have a good experienced buying esims with bitrefill ( use bitcoin ) , it’s so easy to obtained , just go to their websites and pay with your bitcoin or lighting address and in matter of minutes you’ll be able to use data local . It’s bypass the local authority to forced you buy their local SIM card . In some Country your mobile won’t work as the authority forces you to registered your device to be able to use data . BItrefill is the solutions .
Would you still not give up your password if they hold you in customs until you give up and you have important speech to attend as you are the speakers ? Would you give up ?
Never heard of or experienced this in Japan. My first thought is they weren’t actually security. Did they ask in Japanese or English? Even stranger is you said you didn’t even have a laptop.
Random ask without knowing if you actually have a laptop? They smell like fraudsters, but they should be quite brave to wear a fake security uniform in an airport. Or they were testing some theory and gatterimg data.
Can’t find anything definite, but apparently New Zealand has a law that requires you to submit passwords or pins or receive a fine. Seems to be unique in the fine aspect, but perhaps other countries would just refuse entry?? What is strange is that it was domestic travel.
Based on Anhern response nothing too dramatic. Which is good to know. By the way, it is weird as fuck indeed they ask you that when you didnt even had a laptop.
I don't know if they can require it in Japan. They can require it in the US, in Canada, in the UK, in Australia, and many others. In Canada, I believe they would just seize the device if you don't give them the password. In the UK and in Australia, I believe they send you to jail... Conclusion : no electronic device when flying. By the way, do you know if you can opt-out of the body scanner in Japanese airports? I believe you can in Europe, Canada and in the US. You can choose to get a pat-down instead. But I don't know about Japan. Any thoughts?
You must not be from the US if you think they would ask this question in the US. I can assure you they would definitely not ask anyone that unless they were being detained and/or arrested for suspicious activity or committing a crime.
They never said what they were trying to break. If it's disk encryption and you're forced to give up the key, the courts already decided you can be compelled to provide it. If it's end-to-end, the feds have been fighting to break that for years. If they can clone the drive without you knowing, that's game over for any non-quantum encryption. But they can't force you to remember a password you don't have. So it's less about "can they break it" and more about what they already have access to without your cooperation. But honestly, most of us aren't that interesting. They go for the low-hanging fruit first. For the rest, it's just a matter of time and budget. Which is why I prefer the Lightning Network for my own transactions. It's not just private; it's cheap, fast, and the fees are fractions of a cent.
Guy seems like a grifter. Major red flags. Sells his course in the first half of the interview and provides no details of anything other than the things you can read in persuasion books - which everyone knows by now.
that is a fair observation. why I refer his video because I can relate from it. My former work is in cybersec. We've used tools to crackdown passwords in mins. That is not even sophisticated tools. I am aware that intelligence institution spent billions in tech so that says everything. ☺️
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Vultura 5 months ago
Those inhuman questioned at first place . Thats our whole identity . Just like your smartphone where you put all your wallet. Someone know your password then they control your assets . Such a idiot questioned and violates privacy of human right
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Vultura 5 months ago
You can really tell if you have been single out .