As many of my friends know, I talk about security and civil liberties quite a bit. Many groups, especially the Bush administration, like to present a choice between security and civil liberties. This, however, is a false choice. There are many ways that we can use new technology and good, old fashioned techniques to increase our security without sacrificing civil liberties. All to often, though, the “security measures” that are put in place are designed to make us feel more secure, not to necessarily actually make us more secure. One way this manifests itself is in spending huge amounts of money defending against ridiculously specific threats. In fact, that money could be much better spent improving our disaster response infrastructure, something that comes in handy during terrorist attacks and natural disasters like Katrina. It’s also important to realize that giving up civil liberties often makes us less secure, not more. For instance, when the FBI creates a computer program that allows agents to wiretap a phone with the click of a mouse (no warrant needed), there’s nothing to stop an agent from wiretapping the phone of a friend or rival to discover private information about them.

With all that in mind, I think it’s worth discussing two news stories from the past week. The first is the TSA’s announcement that they will no longer let people who refuse to show ID past the security screening area. From 9/11 until now, if you refused to show ID, you were subject to some extra screening (pat downs, luggage search, etc.). Of course, before 9/11, you didn’t need an ID to fly at all. The rule change then was actually pushed by the airlines. Since ID isn’t supposed to be required to travel within the country, it was really easy to buy cheap tickets and resell them to others for a profit. The airlines really wanted to tap into this black market of airline tickets, but couldn’t because they weren’t allowed to ask for ID. But with 9/11, they managed to convince the TSA to change its rules, allowing airlines to ask passengers to show IDs. This prevented reselling tickets which meant more money for the airlines. Now, though, you can’t even get through the security screening area with the extra searches if you refuse to show ID. Unless, that is, you say that you lost it. So if you don’t want to show your ID and instead claim you lost it, they’ll do the extra searches and let you through. This isn’t a security measure at all (unless terrorists suddenly can’t lie). It’s just about control. Usually the TSA is more subtle than this, but there’s really no explanation for this other than flaunting their power. This literally makes no one safer, but hassles the innocents and further strips us of civil liberties. So the next time you fly, consider “forgetting” your ID, I know I will.

The second story is out of DC. After a big spike in homicides in one DC neighborhood, the DC police decided to create checkpoints to filter out who can get in and out of the neighborhood. This is the same kind of thing they do in Bahgdad and totalitarian states. The only way you can get into the area is if your driver’s license says you live there or if you can give the police a convincing reason for why you should be there. So if you just moved there and haven’t updated your driver’s license, there’s no guarantee that the police will allow you to get to you own home. Furthermore, the Constitution protects against unreasonable search and seizure. I would think that would include demanding information about where you’re going and what you’re doing when you’re not under arrest or even of interest to a case. Plus, it’s up to whatever officer happens to be at the checkpoint. If that officer has some reason to dislike you (race, religion, bumper stickers on your car, the sports team you support), they may not let you in. Again, though, a criminal who can lie well or who has a convincing fake ID will be able to get past these check points. And, again, it’s the innocent people who suffer from this. An NPR report cites conflicting numbers of anywhere from 50% to 90% of cars being turned away. There’s simply no way that that many people are criminals. The part that really gets me, though, is that they’re only checking cars. If you park a block outside the neighborhood, you could walk or ride your bike in with no security check at all. So again, a little planning on the part of the criminal (who is likely to plan their crime ahead of time to some extent) will allow them to completely bypass the checkpoint while normal drivers trying to get home will be stopped.

Measures like these two don’t make us safer and often actually make us less safe. In the best case, they significantly increase the rings that innocent people have to jump through to get about their normal lives and make all of us less free. Remember, the terrorists only win if we’re scared, so refuse to be terrorized!

Bonus points: Cory Doctorow just wrote a young adult novel called Little Brother about Homeland Security gone overboard and a high school kid who fights back. It’s a fast and excellent read. Plus, if you don’t wanna shell out the money for the book (although it’s totally worth it), the author is offering it as a free download, so make sure to check it out.

Super bonus points: Name the two people who were added to the DHS logo.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 11th, 2008 at 9:38 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.