Friday, September 16, 2016

Luggage locks- Are you truly safe?

The luggage locks that people commonly put on suitcases and bags when travelling on airlines are pretty secure. Or are they? Read more to find out.



The TSA (travel security agency) must approve all locks that are to be put on luggage if they need to inspect the contents. This means that the TSA must have a master key to be able to get into all of the locks so they can open it easily and quickly. There are 7 of these master keys so far, and believe it or not, they are out there for anyone to own.

That's right. About two years ago, a magazine published an article about how amazing these travel and luggage locks really are. In the article, they posted a picture of all seven keys. It flew under the radar for about a year or so until the people of Reddit took notice. Pretty soon, there were downloadable files that you can make using a 3D printer.

I would give a link to the files or post the picture as well, but legal issues prevent me from doing so.

What makes this whole situation better is the response given by the TSA. Essentially, they said that they do not care that anyone has access to these master keys and can now open any approved luggage lock. In their response, a spokesman said something to the extent of, "The alleged release of this information does not provide a significant threat to air travel." What? TSA, get your priorities straight. Instead of worrying about people smuggling food into countries, you might want to change your locks. Everyone has the keys.

So what do you think? Will you ever use a TSA approved travel lock again? At least one of these locks will maybe stop someone who wishes to steal your possessions.

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