@dan It really surprises me that they tried this. Seems like such a low probability of success.

@mattblaze my mom did it at a small law firm in the 2000/2010s and had to convince the attorneys that the real threat to client privacy was someone watching their screen at a coffee shop or just stealing the unlocked computer when the attorney went to the restroom, so I could imagine “no expectation of privacy on airplanes” passing muster in the US (not a lawyer, just an IT nerd)

@mattblaze my weird answer is I would if I had the window seat.

OTOH, my gut says anyplace where it'd violate social norms to watch pornography doesn't carry privacy rights for the screen.

@mattblaze Expectation of privacy or not, I have seen things on airplanes without even trying. I’m thankful for touch/face id on my devices and just stick to reading a book or getting some sleep if I can

@mattblaze I don't type passwords in public places. I use a VPN and make sure it's connected before I type in a pw in a hotel room or other private spot. Too much scam going on to trust the general public with sensitive pws.

@mattblaze I have long (local) passwords that I type very quickly, so no, not really. If you have a correct horse battery staple password, then you're typing your passwords at speeds you'd type any other sentence. I'd be very impressed if someone could figure out my password(s) from like 5 feet away as I type them quickly.

And then firefox is auto-generating and saving website passwords, so no real concerns there.

@mattblaze I'd have thought that most laptop-wakeup events involved a fingerprint reader these days.

@mattblaze I would hope I have a reasonable expectation of privacy everywhere, so yes, on a plane, in my seat or wherever.

@mattblaze Important questions. Also an object lesson in the virtues of passkeys and password managers, integrated with your laptop's security infra.

Curious how the Swalwell case develops. Not to assign you homework or anything, but I'd read any updates on that you posted here.

Also, you don't hear the phrase "shoulder surfing" much these days. Its heyday was during the 80's and 90's, referring to people who'd hang around banks of payphones at places like airports and attempt to watch people entering (then valuable) long distance calling card numbers.

@adamshostack The risk is alerting the target.