Do Saudi customs check external hard drives for inappropriate material

21POSTS

15 years ago

It just hit me now while I am copying stuff to my external hard drive

. Most of it contains Family photos/home videos (gatherings and occasions), English and Hindi movies, songs and sitcoms like Seinfeld, Friends, and Prison Break etc etc.
I am suppose to come there (Riyadh) in Sept 1st week. Should I go ahead and bring my external hard disk or just threw it away?

Or I should Encrypt the data

or Not?

The Riyadh expat guide

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Read it now

DaveLynn Member

17POSTS

15 years ago

This is good to know. I have two protable drives and I have ISO's of software that I have purchased on them along with the purchase documents in a text form on the drives.

Violin New member

3POSTS

15 years ago

hi, I have been living in KSA since 2004 I travel twice a year, they have never checked laptop or external hard disk content.

sawada Active member

76POSTS

15 years ago

no they never check the laptop and external drive, but they check the medicine if you have on your bag

IT Guy Member

21POSTS

15 years ago

It is good to see some positive replies... Right now i am in two minds to delete the contents or not... I have gone through some posts and it seems that they dont check contents of ladies and family men however I am a bachelor

and chances seems to be quite high for me.

@borntobemild, I don't intend to bury the folders with in other folders, just want to encrypt the whole thing so that it is just a single unreadable/junk file. But I am unsure since this will be my first visit to Riyadh... dont know how much IT literate the customs are and also is it really sensible of me to mention my intention in this post ..

borntobemild Serial expat

461POSTS

15 years ago

Violin wrote:
hi, I have been living in KSA since 2004 I travel twice a year, they have never checked laptop or external hard disk content.

well since youve been doing this twice a year since 2004, you also might have noticed that they dont really check on women much..

Sparrow Serial expat

435POSTS

15 years ago

Last time I came thru King Khalid on 16 July a poor looking pakistani had 4 x large external hardrives confiscated.

I travel in and out with a external hardrive also family photos but mainly work docs. I have never been checked. They do undo your laptop case et al - but behave well, take a chance - they know what type of person to look for. Movies etc is not the issue, its the content of the movies.

Automation Active member

37POSTS

15 years ago

Since Jan 2011 I came 3 times to KSA, nobody checked my laptop.

ame6792 Active member

32POSTS

15 years ago

#10

Hello IT Guy

May be you can upload the data on sites which specialize in data storage before leaving your home country and then download it once you are in KSA.

Is there a possibility that they will check audio files also in the laptop? Or even an ipod will be checked ?

AME

Violin New member

3POSTS

15 years ago

#11

Note: some sites are not accessible in KSA. Often innocent onlines pages do not open.

dazzlingjaney Active member

35POSTS

15 years ago

#12

borntobemild wrote:
Violin wrote:
hi, I have been living in KSA since 2004 I travel twice a year, they have never checked laptop or external hard disk content.

well since youve been doing this twice a year since 2004, you also might have noticed that they dont really check on women much..

Wow this is good to know...But then, it might differ from which airport you go through.Dammam and Jeddah airport are more relaxed to travellers but not in Riyadh.Last time I've been in the Kingdom is 2005 and left on 2006...there's not too much hush on checking laptops and hard disks and external drives sort of! So what about contents in your camera? Does this also apply to the checking like on laptops? Odd changes huh!

IT Guy Member

21POSTS

15 years ago

#13

Well... to sum it all, I arrived in Riyadh last week. Based on the information provided above I deleted all movies and sitcomms

I had kept the Portable drive and USB drive in my hand bag so that I need not open my luggage if they want to check the hard drive.

Finally during the customs the guy only looked me in the eye and said nothing ... I picked up my bags and moved forward....

MaserMan Serial expat

377POSTS

15 years ago

#14

Travel a lot and have never been stopped and checked.

There are a lot a apocryphal stories flying around in this place, also the colour of your skin does have a bearing on how you are treated.

Sparrow Serial expat

435POSTS

15 years ago

#15

Well done IT Guy,

Now you can sit all friday and download all the movies and sitcoms back onto your hard drive.

Salman Omrani VIP Member

1389POSTS

15 years ago

#16

MM an Sparrow. Great to see you guys are around

and welcome to the Kingdom IT guy

Salman

yazeed1 Guest

0POSTS

15 years ago

#17

yup one time the checked my CDs and told me to wait until they are finished checking them. plus SHAME ON YOU

why would you bring inappropriate material with you

IT Guy Member

21POSTS

15 years ago

#18

yazeed1 wrote:
yup one time the checked my CDs and told me to wait until they are finished checking them. plus SHAME ON YOU why would you bring inappropriate material with you

@Yazeed,
By inappropriate here it means within the kingdom or as per the rules of the kingdom I had my doubts even for sitcoms like Friends, so dont let your mind wander too much

@Sparrow
Yes, need to get an internet connection, dont know what speeds one may get here.

@Salman
Thanks for the welcome .

sakka Member

11POSTS

15 years ago

#19

did people just help you to smuggle some porn !!!
i think such a post was inappropriate to start with. asking about costumes search habits etc.
and the worst thing is you got feed back from Innocent people.
sorry to be so negative.
just my thoughts.
Friends and other sitcoms play on free TV all day so no need to smuggle it.

IT Guy Member

21POSTS

15 years ago

#20

sakka wrote:
did people just help you to smuggle some porn !!!
i think such a post was inappropriate to start with. asking about costumes search habits etc.
and the worst thing is you got feed back from Innocent people.
sorry to be so negative.
just my thoughts.
Friends and other sitcoms play on free TV all day so no need to smuggle it.

... read the whole thread dear.

bananasplit New member

8POSTS

15 years ago

#21

they searched my Hard desk twice man, they took it once and gave me a penalty for having the American Pie movies ! but just like everything else in Saudi Arabia, Its all about luck ! if your lucky you will just pass smoothly

IT Guy Member

21POSTS

15 years ago

#22

bananasplit wrote:
they searched my Hard desk twice man, they took it once and gave me a penalty for having the American Pie movies ! but just like everything else in Saudi Arabia, Its all about luck ! if your lucky you will just pass smoothly

Hahaha ! They dint check my drive, but the irony here is that I deleted everything, even movies like Harry Potter & Inception.

Fariss Member

12POSTS

15 years ago

#23

lol...1st they look at the person and the way he acts,if u look normal they wont search a thing...but if u got cds they may check it...but sometimes they will take ur answer as granted...

hishamdba Active member

69POSTS

15 years ago

#24

They didn't check mine. (Laptop + 2 External HDD's)

R80GS'er Contributor

138POSTS

15 years ago

#25

hi forgot about this thread.

when i came into Saudi i came in through Bahrain via Dubai and maybe my driver was just very good but it took me 30 mins to do the whole causeway including security and passport control and it was my 1st time entering the country.

i'd like to think i'm special lol like my friends say i am but it think i'm just a little lucky sometimes seeing as i had 4 memory sticks and 2 laptops and umpteen discs with me.

No brainer Member

2POSTS

9 years ago

#26

I think they check it randomly at the airport in Riyadh. I've Traveled in and out but never got inspected. Although I'm confident and very much aware not to bring in stuffs that are illegal, But a friend of a colleague of mine unfortunately who brought in his 2TB HDD filled with docs & work stuff got confiscated and never got it back. So who knows what to expect thru these inspections and random checks... Better play it safe than sorry thou.