philosecurity

A few weeks ago, TSA announced a major policy change in passenger identification procedures. Up until this point, passengers who refused to show ID were still able to fly, albeit with extra screening. As of June 21, 2008, “passengers that willfully refuse to provide identification at security checkpoint will be denied access to the secure area of airports. This change will apply exclusively to individuals that simply refuse to provide any identification or assist transportation security officers in ascertaining their identity.”

TSA goes on to say that “This new procedure will not affect passengers that may have misplaced, lost or otherwise do not have ID but are cooperative with officers.” In other words, if you can convince a TSA officer that you’ve lost your ID, or that you don’t have one, then you can still get through with only extra screening.

Awesome! As Bruce Schneier says: “I feel well-protected against terrorists who can’t lie. I don’t think any further proof is needed that the ID requirement has nothing to do with security, and everything to do with control.”

The folks who refuse to show ID aren’t going to be the terrorists. If an 18 year old kid can get a fake ID, so can Osama Bin Laden. The folks who refuse to show ID are going to be American citizens who believe that freedom of travel is a fundamental right of citizens in this country.

Oh, well. None of this really matters anyway, since in a decade or two TSA will just look people up in the global biometric database.