Belated update on that terrorist watch list

[unixronin]

bruce_schneier posted an update on that watch list yesterday, but I, having worn myself out by pushing myself too far too early in recuperation, didn't update my own.  Rather than repeat and introduce whisper-effect, I'm just going to point back to his updated post.

Capsule summary:  The ACLU somewhat overstated matters.  While there are over a million entries in the list, many are aliases or variant spellings, and the list actually represents some 400,000 individuals, only 5% of whom are US citizens or otherwise have a legal right to be in the US.

However, as Bruce also observes, a watch list of 400,000 "terrorist suspects" is still absurd. It's still the equivalent of one in every 750 people in the US being a terrorist.

Comments

[otherbill.livejournal.com]

And "<Son.FirstName> <LastName>" is on that list, so we cannot check in online when we fly—we have to physically go to the ticket counter and wait in line.

(Once he tried to use his college ID as a photo ID at checkin. Hoo boy, did that lead to problems.)

Our solution? Now he flies as "<Son.FirstInitial> <Son.MiddleName> <LastName>", and we've never encountered a problem.

If the watch list is that easy to bypass, d'ya think the "terrorist suspects" would've figured that out by now?

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, I think like most of the "security" measures, it's mostly security theater. It's another case of what happens when a problem is "managed" by people with little real understanding of either the problem, or how to manage it.

[jhetley.livejournal.com]

"Security theater" just about covers it. I wonder if anybody has ever calculated the lost person-hours of post 9/11 airport crap, versus the lost person-hours of every casualty in the attacks...

Cost/benefit ratios.

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

I don't know. But in that context, this makes a very good point (http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2008/07/homeland_securi_2.html).

[msa.livejournal.com]

Oh, it's not theatre....

I was definitely /not/ amused when I spent several hours, missing my flight, without any of my identification, which was all snatched and taken away from me by airline employees, waiting at OAK for the TSA security manager for the airport to show up -- or the FBI.

The ID in question included my US passport, indicating that I was a natural born citizen...joy.

That was fun. If I were a more litigious person it would have been worth some money too...

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

I don't think anybody suggested it was good theater.

But you make an excellent example: In the event of some Unpleasant Event, you're definitely on my list of the top five people I know that I'd want watching my back. The idea of you being a potential terrorist is, to me, absurd. But just because of your last name, the system considers you a Suspicious Person, and you're probably going to keep right on being a false positive.