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more on more on What if Cat Stevens had flown under a different name?
From: David Farber <dave () farber net>
Date: Fri, 24 Sep 2004 18:58:06 -0400
Begin forwarded message: From: "John S. Quarterman" <jsq () quarterman org> Date: September 24, 2004 5:47:09 PM EDT To: dave () farber net Cc: "John S. Quarterman" <jsq () quarterman org> Cc: Ip <ip () v2 listbox com>Subject: Re: [IP] more on more on What if Cat Stevens had flown under a different name?
For IP.
From: Steve Bellovin <smb () research att com> Date: September 23, 2004 9:01:06 PM EDT To: dave () farber net Cc: "sbaker () steptoe com" <sbaker () steptoe com>Subject: more on more on What if Cat Stevens had flown under a different name?
Stewart Baker asks a good question: why do so many people (and not just on this list) complain about proactive data gathering (such as CAPPS II) while simultaneously noting the difficulty in disambiguating names without broader context.
I think it's not a contradiction; it's a red herring. If a watchlist was useful, why after three years hasn't it succeeded in catching any actual terrorists? One can argue that it would be more effective withmore data gathering, but zero times any increased factor of effectiveness
is still zero. Maybe I've missed hearing about some actual terrorists being caught this way; if so, somebody please point out such cases.
When data is gathered, it *will* be used for other purposes. According to last Sunday's NY Times, in fact, that sort of mission creep was the problem that sunk CAPPS II. (For those who are interested, see http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/19/politics/19secure.html -- it explains how, according to FOIAed documents, the systems was not going to be used just for protecting flights, but also for finding people wanted for many other sorts of violent crime, and maybe more -- the legitimate recipients of matches include "other federal agencies conducting litigation".)
Rudy Giuliano's cleanup of NYC used a similar tactic, collaring people at subway turnstiles who went through without paying their fare. Manypeople wanted for other, sometimes much more serious, crimes were caught.
The difference is: going through a turnstile without paying was a crime.Last I heard, getting on an airplane after paying the airfare isn't a crime.
In the case of Yusuf Islam, according to the Voice of America: ``U.S. Homeland Security officials would only say Mr. Islam is on the lists because of "activities that could be potentially linked to terrorism."''http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm?objectID=348670BC-3623-4CC1 -8EB18CC50BACE4FB&title=British%20Singer%20Yusuf%20Islam%20Plans%20Legal %20Action%20over%20US%20Deportation&catOID=45C9C78C-88AD-11D4- A57200A0CC5EE46C&categoryname=Europe
Potentially? Hm, so if any of us bought Cat Stevens records (looks like he's released a couple in the past year), might we be linked by the royalties he got to whatever his activities might be and thus also be potentially linked to terrorism? What if we went to one of his concerts? One of the main points of the subway turnstile collars was to improve the context of subway travel, so as to have an indirect yet powerful effect on reducing crime. If there was actually a reason for Yusuf Islam (a well-known philanthropist who has frequently spoken out against terrorism) being deported, perhaps the U.S. government will inform its good ally the British government, as Jack Straw requested of Colin Powell at the UN,so that the British government can pursue appropriate action against him.
If not, I'm puzzled as to how a watchlist that stops U.S. Congressmen (Sen. Ted Kennedy, Rep. John R. Lewis) http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/823083.cmsand an internationally known philanthropist while producing no true positives
is improving the context of air travel or directly increasing security. Maybe somebody can explain this. John S. Quarterman <jsq () quarterman org> ------------------------------------- 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/
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- more on more on What if Cat Stevens had flown under a different name? David Farber (Sep 24)
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