Laptop & HDD airport scans

If they do, they will give you a receipt for the machines confiscated and you can claim them again, from customs, at a later date.

We've all "heard" about these.  We all "know" that it's a possibility, but none of us has ever had it happen to them, to the best of my knowledge.

Unless you look like a pornographer or a pedophile, I can't imagine them confiscating your equipment.

Thanks for the prompt response.  I sincerely hope that I do not look like either of the characters which you mentioned.

I will be coming in with a laptop and 2 hard drives - both are loaded with lots of materials for work: pdf's, ppt's and video files.  Nothing that has 'sex' in the file name.

I've been through customs 4 times so far and the bored buy running the scanning equip. never gave my laptops a second glance.

I wouldn't worry about it -- and, welcome to the Kingdom!

They're urban legends, spread through third-party reports, hearsay and misinformation.

jveeds wrote:

They're urban legends, spread through third-party reports, hearsay and misinformation.

Not really. I was in a group of pilots coming into Riyadh 3 months ago. All of us were in uniform except for one pilot. The only one out of uniform had his laptop and portable hard drive held until he turned it on and they browsed through it. They finally let him through about 45 minutes later. It's rare but not an urban legend.