NYC to search transit riders' bags -- but ...

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Lauren Weinstein <lauren () vortex com>
Date: July 21, 2005 4:30:23 PM EDT
To: dave () farber net
Cc: lauren () vortex com
Subject: NYC to search transit riders' bags -- but ...


Dave,

As noted in:

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/21/nyregion/21cnd-security.html? 
pagewanted=2&hp

NYC is about to start "random" bag checks of transit system riders.

A number of questions immediately spring to mind.  Will the
inspections be truly (pseudo)-"random" in a mathematical sense, or
random in terms of "White-skinned all-American looking males are
rarely 'randomly' selected"?  What happens if inspectors find
contraband or suspicious radical materials during their searches
(e.g., printouts of your IP postings from this mailing list?)

Authorities say that persons who do not wish to be inspected will be
allowed to leave.  Uh, does this mean they can just move onward to
some other station where the "random" selection isn't likely to hit
them the next time?  Or will they be followed, tracked, and
otherwise become a "person of interest" by virtue of refusing a
search?

And most depressingly, exactly how will this policy prevent
suicide bombers (presumably a key demographic) from exploding
their payloads in the terminals prior to or during inspections,
or bombers in general simply shifting from mass transit to any
number of other "soft" targets around the metropolitan area
(sidewalks?  stores?  shopping centers?  Times Square?)

Of course, this is the same NYC where authorities tried to ban
cameras on the transit system -- another brilliant security move.

You can't blame authorities for trying.  They are desperately
attempting to make people *feel* that they are safer, even when they
know that their efforts in the face of such asymmetric threats are a
drop in the bucket.  Even London with its vast camera-based
surveillance infrastructure, is learning that while such systems may
be useful for after-the-fact analysis, they are largely impotent to
deter attacks overall.

The powers-that-be know all this.  The sooner that they start talking
straight to citizens about the realities of these situations and the
forces that create people willing to commit such attacks on innocent
persons, the sooner we may all be able to work toward genuine
solutions that still preserve our basic values.

--Lauren--
Lauren Weinstein
lauren () pfir org or lauren () vortex com or lauren () eepi org
Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800
http://www.pfir.org/lauren
Co-Founder, PFIR
  - People For Internet Responsibility - http://www.pfir.org
Co-Founder, EEPI
  - Electronic Entertainment Policy Initiative - http://www.eepi.org
Moderator, PRIVACY Forum - http://www.vortex.com
Member, ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy
Lauren's Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com
DayThink: http://daythink.vortex.com



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