I haven’t had reason or opportunity to fly anywhere in quite awhile, and while I’ll be flying to and back from Texas in a couple of weeks, if this proposed system goes into effect, I may not want go anywhere I can’t easily drive anytime soon after that:
The new Transportation Security Administration system seeks to probe deeper into each passenger’s identity than is currently possible, comparing personal information against criminal records and intelligence information. Passengers will be assigned a color code — green, yellow or red — based in part on their city of departure, destination, traveling companions and date of ticket purchase.
Maybe I’m being paranoid, and maybe only terrorists and axe murderers have anything to fear, but this doesn’t seem like anything but the illusion of safety procured at the expense of civil liberty. The term “Owellian” really doesn’t do the Department of Homeland Security justice.
Found via Metafilter, where a number of people have done some of the math to explain just how many thousands of people 1-2% of passengers really is.