yosithezet

Dr. HFH

I thought that OP said that it was in the care/custody of the concierge.


This is a great idea, -- relatively cost-free out for the hotel, yet the OP still can get some nice value.

pa3lsvt

Agreed that using physical device security as a sole strategy is both silly and negligent. Who said we don't ALSO have other safeguards?

My laptop has an encrypted drive with a pre-boot password, and my laptop is powered down for travel (not simply put into hibernation so it doesn't open to a Windows login screen). 2FA is used for all my corporate logins and my personal email.

Those security measures don't mean that we get to completely ignore physical device security as a strategy as well. Security is a layered approach, and physical access to hardware is a hacker's best friend despite any other layered strategies.

Not to mention, I also have numerous personal effects (including my passport, an emergency credit card, and cash stashed) in the bag that I can't encrypt or use 2FA to protect.

So don't come around here with your silly (your word) negligence (your word) accusations based on your incorrect assumptions about what my employer does, and does not do, with regards to security.

It is literally impossible for me to do my job without that information available to me in the field. You cannot possibly have known that when you posted, but now you do.

Much of the information I use and data I generate in the field are company trade secrets by their nature. Some of that data is sales-related (who wouldn't want a list of customers I have serviced?) and some is technical in nature.

I don't carry the formula to Coca-Cola (or our products) on my laptop, as that's falls outside of a "need-to-know" scope of my job. I'm also not an entry-level employee, and my role involves understanding and acceptance of the significant responsibility towards data protection inherent to the role.

Again, a good security policy is a layered approach that mitigates as much risk as possible without preventing the job function from being performed. In this case, the risk of having sensitive data in the field is balanced by a well-developed multi-layered security policy that takes into account the need of the employee's role to handle and responsibility to protect such data.

FlyingUnderTheRadar

Re-read my post. I never mentioned a laptop bag. I specially said If one is giving a bag to others to manage it should be packed in such a way that it could take a minor drop with the contents surviving. I would not give my laptop bag to the concierge or anyone else to manage. When I have given a bag containing a laptop it is packed in such a way that it could survive a minor drop such as off a baggage cart.

Further, no one has judged the that the drop was "minor." Again re-read my post, the OP failed to pack the bag such that it could withstand a drop.

davie355

Okay, hang on let me pull it up.

Hmmm.........

FlyingUnderTheRadar

Keep trying but your posts show a complete lack of reading comprehension. For your edification, the statement I made about a "minor drop" was in reference to how one should pack a bag, that is not a judgement on the drop that OP's bag took. Sheesh

rebadc

Its not just the laptop but possibly data extraction from a hard drive; that would double the cost.

JBord

I'm not an IT expert, or even better than average. We have that stuff for drives on the company's system. But I don't believe it's on my local laptop c drive. And I'm often in locations where I can't get connected to the VPN, including some rooms where I can't even get a cell signal to use as a hotspot.

It's not like it's personal information or anything that should, legally, be protected. But that doesn't mean it would be ok to lose it.

To be honest, even if I had the greatest security software ever or not yet invented, I wouldn't put my laptop in a position where it could be easily stolen, like leaving it in my car while I'm in a restaurant. It's not like it's handcuffed to my wrist. It stays in my house or hotel room without me. And as I'm sure is the case with other people, that bag doesn't just have a laptop with sensitive data. It has expensive equipment, and other personal items that I need.

Bottom line, there's a whole lot of reasons to not leave a laptop bag with a hotel desk or in the trunk of your car, etc. Data is the one I'd not want to tell my employer about.

MSPeconomist

JBord

If you're asking me, I usually avoid places where I wouldn't be safe. But trunks are raided fairly often in nice areas. For a couple years, it was quite common for trunks to be robbed in restaurant and office building parking lots in Houston, where I travel regularly.

I'm not insane, just try to use common sense. The hotel room is already locked. Only hotel employees, typically cleaning crew, would have access. That's a pretty bold move for a cleaner to steal a laptop, knowing they can be easily tracked. I realize you can't create 100% safety. Certainly one could be mugged, and there's nothing you can do about it. But I don't walk down dark alleys either. Same thing here...if you leave your laptop in a public place or with another person, there's a greater risk it will be stolen or broken. In the OP's case, Marriott needs to replace it. But my point is still that the situation could have been avoided, and now the OP has the hassle he's dealing with. The only inconvenience was he'd have to carry a backpack around?

I don't know if the OP said it was his laptop or his employer's, but it's fairly common security policy, from what I've seen, for employers to warn employees about leaving their laptop in the care of others or in a car, etc.

rny321

For some people, a laptop is neither the most expensive item nor the most difficult to replace thing they travel with. Although I am admittedly somewhat unique, my travel laptop has only minimal corporate or personal data on it. I keep most company and/or personal files on encrypted SD cards in a separate location from my laptop. While I appreciate that keeping company files on removable media is not permissible at many businesses, it works for me. In addition to regular system backups on all of my office and home computers, I will normally backup any laptop I travel with just before leaving on a trip.

Since the laptop I travel with is not expensive or loaded with important files, it can be replaced easily. If I arrive at a hotel early, I leave my briefcase with a manager or the front desk rather than a bellhop. Although I understand the desire the keep one's laptop with them, some activities, like surfing or skiing, aren't appropriate venues for computers.

Although I generally leave expensive clothing at home when on vacation, I normally take one or two of my better suits with me on business trips to Europe and Asia. Unlike a laptop which can be replaced easily, dealing with the loss of a couple of custom made suits isn't as simple. For that reason, I am no more concerned leaving a laptop with my hotel than I am leaving the rest of my luggage.

I am not defending the decision to keep liquids in the same bag as a laptop, but I do feel that leaving a laptop with one's hotel isn't necessarily less prudent than leaving one's other possessions in the same location until check in.

Dr. HFH

For those who believe that the hotel should make some type of cash payment, do you think that it should be based on the replacement cost of a similar/identical laptop, or a somewhat lower, depreciated, value, depending mostly on the age of the damaged laptop? I'm talking about hardware only, -- software and data is a different, and more complicated issue.

moondog

I think I'm in the minority here, but speaking as a heavy laptop user, I think the midpoint between the current (i.e. depreciated value) and the original purchase price would be fair.

For example:
-$1000 purchase price
-5 year depreciation
-assuming we're in year 3, current value is ~$400
-split the the difference between $400 and $1000 ---> $700
-a $700 laptop sold in 2019 is BETTER than a $1000 laptop sold in 2016

That having been said, as others have pointed out, the hotel surely has insurance for this sort of thing, so I'd shoot for the $1000 (using the above example) initially.

yosithezet

davie355

Exactly this.

On a very strict technical liability basis, the hotel may very well owe OP nothing.

But if we're talking goodwill - well, what would you do if you went to a friend's party and knocked their laptop off a desk, splitting the screen from the keyboard? Say the friend shouldn't have left a laptop hanging over the edge of a desk. It doesn't matter to me. Depending on how I value the friendship, I could say "sorry about your laptop!" or I could run to an Apple Store (some are 24 hours) and return with a sealed replacement, a profuse apology, and an offer to help transfer old data.

In no circumstances would I say "oh, that's a 2 year old Macbook Pro which was $1600 at the time of purchase and based on my calculations is $750 now. Here's a check for $750."