05 Oct 2006
Why Everyone Must Be Screened

It never ceases to amaze me when folks get outraged over an 80 year old granny being searched at an airport. How useless!

Uh, no, it's not useless at all, and in fact is a cornerstone of any rational security program.

Age, race and gender profiling won't work to combat Muslim terrorists, because the last time I checked, being Muslim wasn't conditioned on your age, race or gender. if we cease searching 80 year old grannies, you can expect the next attack to be carried out by, er, 80 year old Muslim terrorist grannies.

Security is a system, as Mr. Schneier points out, and if we're going to institute a system, we have to do it systematically. I dislike airport security as much as the next guy, but rationally, it's being implemented at least as correctly as the Federal government is capable of implementing anything.

Isn't it logical and more efficient to allow people carrying U.S. government security clearances to bypass airport screening? You might think so, but you'd be wrong. Commentary by Bruce Schneier.

(link) [Wired News: Top Stories]

06:46 /Technology | 2 comments | permanent link