more on Airport lockers, fingerprints, and privacy -- more details, questions [priv]

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

------ Forwarded Message
From: Lauren Weinstein <lauren () vortex com>
Date: Thu, 03 Mar 2005 08:50:59 -0800
To: <dave () farber net>
Cc: <lauren () vortex com>
Subject: Re: [IP] more on Airport lockers, fingerprints, and privacy -- more
details, questions [priv]

> "This highly secure method ensures that the person who rented the locker is
> the person who retrieves its contents" -- how does this improve security?
> All it does is prevent a husband from picking up something his wife has
> checked in a locker.
> It prevents using lockers as mail drops for exchanges -- but the world is
> full of usable drops, as real and fictional spies have demonstrated for
> centuries. And have such drops been implicated in anything lately?

Dave, for that matter, if the system is using a digital photographic
technique to "snap" an image of the print, will it accept a *photo*
of a print (that is, gummi bear techniques not even required).  If
so, parties wanting to use such a locker for a drop could simply
send a handy image to each other over the Net or transfer it by
other simple means.

But the entire fingerprint locker idea is useless anyway as far as
security is concerned.  Just another example of the TSA "make the
people think they're safe by x-raying their shoes and taking away
their little knives and lighters" silliness.  I still assert that a
terrorist could do a lot more damage on a plane with items that
passengers can still carry on freely -- like a specially modified
umbrella (I'm not kidding).

The only way that TSA can provide genuine security is by flying
planes with passengers only (no baggage of any sort either in the
cabin or underneath) and with the passengers themselves chained
naked to their seats after being completely x-rayed and subjected to
body cavity searches.

I wonder what that would do to airline revenues?

--Lauren--
Lauren Weinstein
lauren () pfir org or lauren () vortex com or lauren () privacyforum org
Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800
http://www.pfir.org/lauren
Co-Founder, PFIR - People For Internet Responsibility - http://www.pfir.org
Co-Founder, Fact Squad - http://www.factsquad.org
Co-Founder, URIICA - Union for Representative International Internet
                     Cooperation and Analysis - http://www.uriica.org
Moderator, PRIVACY Forum - http://www.vortex.com
Member, ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy
Lauren's Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com
DayThink Audio Features: http://daythink.vortex.com


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