Why would a law-abiding American be reluctant to allow the federal government to vacuum his biometric data at airports? We are running a pilot program that compares your face against a federal database of photos from passport applications, driver’s licenses, and other sources. The TSA promises that a new airport regime, which could expand significantly next year, will respect Americans’ privacy.
If you believe it, I can sell a bridge in Brooklyn very cheaply.
The TSA has long been one of the most intrusive and incompetent federal agencies. For 20 years, all her TSA idiots have been protected by bureaucratic bodyguards of lies.
“Trust us” is the TSA’s mantra for the new program. “TSA does not really publish hard data on how often its system falsely identifies people with false positive or negative matches,” the Washington Post said. NoteThe TSA will rely on a photo identification system that has up to 100 times higher false positive rates for blacks and Hispanics.
The TSA has made many profiling mistakes, including targeting black men. backward baseball cap in Boston.TSA agent at Newark Liberty Airport false accusation against Hispanics to increase the number of arrests for the program.
of TSA The scanning system could be a big step towards a Chinese-style “social credit” system that could limit travel for people the government doesn’t like. In fact, the TSA has already found it doing it. In 2018, The New York Times revealed secret watchlist For those the TSA labels as “publicly infamous.” TSA critics to the end — forever?
The Brennan Justice Center said the TSA “almost anyone Even modest public profiles of journalists and activists are on the list. But this show is dangerous not only for bad reporters. The TSA’s chief executive told Congress that any traveler whose behavior is “concern” could qualify for the list. “About Behavior” is vague enough to add 10,000 chumps a day to your watchlist.
But what’s the harm in allowing the TSA to scrutinize people’s faces? The TSA spent $1 billion on behavior detectors. sweating, hand wringing, yawning, staring too long and avoiding eye contact. The inspector general said the program was a complete waste of money and had never caught a terrorist.
The TSA’s behavior detection program was a fiasco, so a few years ago the TSA launched a new program, Quiet Skies. dressing or shaving Among other tripwires while at the airport. Air marshals stalk prey to see if it is fidget.cold and sharp stareor “strong body odor”. Marshalls will be given files and photographs of the target, and any “serious and disparaging information” about the suspect will be recorded. (My cover was blown!) Senator Edward Markey (D-Massachusetts) accused the program — not catching terrorists — of: The very definition of “Big Brother”.”
Do you trust the TSA? When the company introduced full-body scanners 12 years ago, it claimed that personal details of travelers wouldn’t be revealed from the photos. But the scan is so detailed that hernia, breast augmentation, whether the man is circumcised, or potential porn star.
The TSA claimed the scanners were essential for security, but the general report of inspectors said: Scanner failed 95% of time to detect smuggled weapons and simulated explosives. Women are sometimes coerced thanks to TSA’s inadequate scanners pull them down exposed pants and underwear their blood menstrual pad.
The TSA may soon be able to have Americans at kiosks asking for photos that can be added to the document, but the TSA allowed This year, up to 1,000 illegal immigrants can board domestic flights simply by presenting an arrest warrant received from the Department of Homeland Security. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) howled. Dystopian inversion A radical open-border policy goes beyond the absurdity of trying to accomplish the exact opposite of DHS’s core mission of arresting those who cross the border illegally. ”
Will new facial recognition software be programmed to warn anyone who despises the TSA? Taken behind closed doors for TSA’s ‘enhanced patrol down’ that runs out of quota?Washington Post warned In 2019, the airport’s facial recognition system was “the United States’ biggest step to standardize treating our faces as data that can be stored, tracked, and inevitably stolen.” (as happened to DHS facial records in 2019).
America needs to privatize airport security instead of the TSA letting travelers infiltrate high tech. most european countries And Canada did. After pointlessly groping millions of Americans, the TSA has never caught a terrorist and has no excuse to grope millions more. CNN political commentator Angela Lai wrote after her experience at the harsh checkpoint: not safe Because you grab the vagina.
James Bovard is the author of 10 books and a member of the USA Today Contributors Board.
