Interesting People mailing list archives
more on NYC to search transit riders' bags -- but ...
From: David Farber <dave () farber net>
Date: Fri, 22 Jul 2005 07:29:35 -0400
Begin forwarded message: From: "Eklund, Neil H (Research)" <eklund () crd ge com> Date: July 21, 2005 9:36:10 PM EDT To: dave () farber net Subject: RE: [IP] NYC to search transit riders' bags -- but ... -----Original Message----- From: owner-ip () v2 listbox com [mailto:owner-ip () v2 listbox com]On Behalf Of David Farber Sent: Thursday, July 21, 2005 5:37 PM To: Ip ip Subject: [IP] NYC to search transit riders' bags -- but ... 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 ------------------------------------- You are subscribed as eklund () crd ge com To manage your subscription, go to http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ipArchives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting- people/
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- more on NYC to search transit riders' bags -- but ... David Farber (Jul 22)