Interesting People mailing list archives
for a much needed dose of "humor" look at -- World's most stupid security measures named and shamed
From: Dave Farber <dave () farber net>
Date: Sat, 12 Apr 2003 15:33:01 -0400
From: Wdimitr () aol com Date: Sat, 12 Apr 2003 15:15:43 EDT To: Wdimitr () aol com Subject: World's most stupid security measures named and shamed The Register World's most stupid security measures named and shamed By John Leyden Posted: 09/04/2003 at 09:23 GMT Privacy International today announced the results of its competition to find the world's most pointless security measures. The competition, launched in February, attracted almost 5000 nominations from 35 countries. While airlines and airports dominated the competition, nominations arose from almost all areas of private and public sector activity. The winners include JFK Airport, T-Mobile (UK), Michigan Correctional Facilities and the Australian government. The Stupid Security Awards were judged by a distinguished international panel of security and privacy experts, and intended to highlight the absurdities of the security industry. Privacy International's director, Simon Davies, said his group took the initiative because of "innumerable" security initiatives around the world that had absolutely no genuine security benefit. "The extraordinary number of nominations indicates that the situation has become ridiculous," said Davies. "Security has become the smokescreen for incompetent and robotic managers the world over." "The situation has become more than an irritation to the public. It has become an outright danger". The winners are: Most Egregiously Stupid Award Winner - The Australian government for a "litany of pointless, irritating and self-serving security measures" Runner-Up - Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov for the 'Propiska' Identity Papers Most Inexplicably Stupid Award Winner - Philadelphia International Airport for over-reaction to a bottle of cologne Runner-Up - Heathrow Airport for quarantining a quantity of green tea Most Annoyingly Stupid Award Winner - T-Mobile (UK) for pointless and idiotic financial security measures Runner-Up - Bay Area Rapid Transport (Bart) for closing its restrooms. Most Flagrantly Intrusive Award Winner - Delta Terminal at JFK Airport for forcing a nursing mother to drink her own breast milk Runner-Up - Carson City Correctional Facility, Michigan for forcing women visitors to wear bras. Most Stupidly Counter Productive Award Winner - San Francisco General Hospital for "blind idiocy" in its identity checking procedures Runner-Up - San Francisco International Airport for endangering the public Dishonourable Mention The New Yorker Hotel, New York for aggressive, unnecessary and meaningless security measures. Full details of the awards can be found here <http://www.privacyinternational.org/activities/stupidsecurity/>. [See exceprts, below.] The competition was judged by a panel of well-known security experts, public policy specialists, privacy advocates and journalists. ® ================ http://www.privacyinternational.org/activities/stupidsecurity/winners.html ... MOST INEXPLICABLY STUPID AWARD WINNER - PHILADELPHIA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT News article http://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=MRJEL2LCC3Q4CCRBAEOCFEY?type =o ddlyEnoughNews&storyID=2259081 Cologne at Airport Brings Rash of Quarantines February 20, 2003 07:56 AM ET PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - An innocent spray of cologne from a Saudi Arabian college student caused authorities in Philadelphia to quarantine a hospital emergency room, a doughnut shop and a drug store on Wednesday, officials said. The incident began at Philadelphia International Airport around 12:45 a.m. EST, when the 22-year-old man arrived at a security checkpoint while trying to make a flight to Saudi Arabia after a day of travel problems spawned by a major snowstorm. The student's visa was fine, the FBI said later. But airport security asked him about a container of liquid in his luggage. While trying to show that the container was a bottle of cologne, the man inadvertently sprayed its aromatic contents on two airport security guards, officials said. "First he sprayed himself," said FBI special agent Linda Vizi. "It was merely to demonstrate that he had cologne." But the action prompted airport security to issue a code-red hazardous materials alert, which brought FBI agents, city police officers and hazardous materials specialists from the Philadelphia Fire Department rushing to the site. Fearing the cologne could be a harmful biological or chemical agent, authorities sent the two guards to a nearby hospital, which quarantined its emergency room for three hours until what hospital officials referred to as "the unknown substance" could be identified as cologne. Two city police officers, who also came into contact with the cologne while examining its container, later went off to a doughnut shop and a 24-hour Rite Aid pharmacy in Philadelphia, officials said. When authorities found out, they ordered both stores shut for 45 minutes until the analysis was complete. The Saudi student, whom authorities did not identify, was questioned by the FBI and released without charges. "We were able to verify his status, and the fire department was able to verify that what he had was cologne," Vizi said. RUNNER-UP - HEATHROW AIRPORT Gunpowder Tea Last September 2002, I was flying through Heathrow Airport. Just ahead of me in the queue at the hand luggage X-Ray checkpoint was an elderly gentleman of Mediterranean appearance whose bag contained some items of interest to the security staff. Firstly they found about a dozen disposable butane gas cigarette lighters, which they confiscated on the grounds that these were not allowed as either hand or hold luggage. Why are these lighters sold at airports ? Then they found about 4 small screwdrivers of the sort used to fit plugs to electrical devices, still in their cardboard and plastic blister packs. These were allowed, provided that the gentleman went downstairs and checked his bag in as hold luggage. Are these small screwdrivers more of a risk than the cutlery and glassware and glass bottles available on any flight ? The third item was a dual quarter pound cellophane wrapped cardboard package of loose leaf Chinese tea. Unfortunately, it was of a well known variety known as Gunpowder Tea, and had this printed on the packaging. Obviously this was of such importance, that, despite already forcing the passenger to check his hand bag as hold luggage, it was decided that the tea was allowed, but that the evil word "Gunpowder" was not. Consequently the security staff then rummaged around (thereby delaying me and the rest of the queue) and found a plastic bag into which they decanted the fragrant tea leaves, and confiscated the cardboard packaging ! ... Bay Area Rapid Transport (Bart) I think one of my faorite "stupid security" measures instistated since 9/11 has been the closure of all Bay Area Rapid Transport (BART) restrooms. This closure, I suppose, was meant to limit a terrorist's ablity to place a deadly toilet-bomb potentially littering the station with feces. What behooves me is why any terrorist would choose the BART restrooms to house his infrastructure disabling bomb when in fact a bomb could be easily carried on to the train itself and detonated somewhere within the actual tunnel. There is no security over what can be carried onto the trains as many people take large luggage as well as bikes. Police often stand by as a "show of force" against the potentail carry-on bomb but do nothing to search anyone, even on a random spot check level. Since these restroom have been closed I have however noticed another form of rabid "bio terrorism" being waged on the trains, public urination. Now, closing the restrooms may be a simple sollution for some, but for those who find themselves having to urinate while within the BART system (some train journeys can take over 1 hour) now must do so on the steps, platform, or my personal favorite, the train cars themselves. How has BART respinded to this act? Well, they have procured a special URINE cone which on a daily basis warns riders at the Oakland 12th Street of the dangers of Urine. The risks of a terrorist act on a public transportation system are great closing public restroom is simply a ploy to use this fear to reduce costs for an underfunded agency. UMMMMMM the sweet smell of urine is sure to boost ridership. ... DELTA TERMINAL AT JFK AIRPORT News article Airport Screeners Order Mom to Drink Breast Milk http://www.newsmax.com/showinsidecover.shtml?a=2002/8/6/92628 By Carl Limbacher Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2002 10:27 a.m. EDT In the latest in a series of airport security nightmares, a woman flying from New York to Florida was forced to drink three bottles of her own breast milk before being allowed to board a flight at JFK International Airport - in an incident that has one prominent New York civil rights attorney ready to sue. Elizabeth McGarry of Oceanside, N.Y., called WABC Radio's Curtis Sliwa and Ron Kuby Tuesday morning to relate the story. Guards at JFK's Delta terminal first "patted me down and made me take my shoes off," McGanny told the morning radio duo. "One security guard took my 4-month-old out of my arms and then they went through the baby's diaper bag." There the guards discovered the three suspect bottles, McGanny said, and promptly ordered her to drink the contents. " I'm not drinking that. It's breast milk," she replied. "They said, 'Either drink all three bottles or you're not getting on the plane.'" McGanny said that when she asked the guards why they were putting her through the ordeal, they explained, "There could be explosives in the baby bottles and I could throw something at the stewardesses." " I asked them if I could just taste it; if I could just show them how you would check a baby's bottle - that it was warm milk and everything. And they said, 'No,'" ordering her to "drink it all." The nursing mom then offered to feed the milk to her baby as the guards looked on, but they refused. After hearing the tale, Kuby, who doubles as one of New York's most-celebrated civil rights attorneys, suggested that McGanny call his office. " How much money do you smell here?" Sliwa asked his radio partner. " If I get a jury of nursing mothers - a lot," Kuby replied. ------------------------------------- You are subscribed as interesting-people () lists elistx com To manage your subscription, go to http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/
Current thread:
- for a much needed dose of "humor" look at -- World's most stupid security measures named and shamed Dave Farber (Apr 12)