Hell No

I’m for rational security meassures. But I'm strongly against the abdication of our privacy. So, this worries me . A lot.

And you know what worries me more? There will be a whole swath of people who’ll see nothing wrong with it – who’ll accuse me of not supporting law enforcement or of letting the terrorists and criminals get the upper hand. Wrong and wrong. I’m fine with taking the biometrics of convicted criminals and known terrorists. But the rest of us? Hell no.

We cannot allow near-constant, warrantless government surveillance become our solution to security issues. This FBI program could take us straight down that path. With enough personal information, the government could track our every move -- and anyone who doesn't see a problem with that is a stunningly blind optimist.

New TSA Scanner OK By Me

I’m a pretty big advocate of privacy rights. But, I have to admit, I’m not at all concerned with the new airport security scanner being rolled out at U.S. airports.

Called the backscatter, the new technology can see through clothing to uncover objects metal detectors would miss, such as ceramic knives and plastic explosives. The concern is that the machine can actually produce a fairly accurate nude picture of you – except that the machines being used by the TSA are programmed to show mere outlines, no private parts exposed.

First of all, as far as I’m concerned, the right to privacy exists to shield our thoughts, movements, purchases and personal foibles from government scrutiny. I can think of a lot of private information I deem a hell of a lot more important than what I look like naked. What’s the government going to do with a fuzzy naked pic of me? Mail me a gym membership?

Secondly, that naked picture won’t ever exist. Not only will the backscatter not produce a detailed image, the image it does produce will be deleted immediately. I guess some unruly TSA employee might be able to reconfigure the system to snap a nudie of me and then print it out somewhere, but I’d consider such a scenario highly unlikely. I mean, if any TSA employee has that kind of technical skill, what are they doing working for the TSA?

I’m glad privacy rights activists are monitoring the rollout of this new technology. I think the government should always be scrutinized by the public. But I’m not concerned. In fact, I’m glad we’re finally upping our security system in ways that may actually make us safer.