Help kill the Surveillance State Bill

[Bill Freeman]

Fred writes:
 > On Tue, 2005-05-10 at 09:15 -0400, Bill Freeman wrote:
 > > Fred writes:
...
 > If RFIDs ever become a *requirement* for a transaction, there *won't be*
 > a transaction with me, period.
 > 
 > Even credit card merchants have the option of typing in the number if
 > the mag stripe fails.

	Yep.  If you make a credit card purchase then you're already
screwed.  The thing to fear is ID required to make a cash purchase.

 > > 	What we need is a plastic cover that is clear in visible light
 > > but opaque or reflective or stippled in the IR.
 > 
 > Nevermind the plastic cover. A felt-tip "magic marker" will do the trick
 > just nicely.

	Except that this is obvious.  A bar code that looks good but
won't scan is probably blamed on the scanner, and exceeds the clerk's
"too much bother" level without getting him annoyed at you and putting
your bread under your canned goods.

...

 > >   Border
 > > control is actually a reason for record aggregation that I support.
 > 
 > Until it's your turn to be harassed, falsely accused of something you
 > didn't do, etc. Then your life will get *real interesting*. 

Everything has trade offs.

 > Errors also typically occurs in the aggregation, and getting them fixed
 > is, well, an exercise in near futility.

And there is the problem, rather than the existance of some particular
ID system.  The political will of the few who understand the issue is
inadequate to actually get these problems fixed.  But what clout there
is would be more effectively spent in support of legislation limiting
what information could be collected, what can be retained, and to what
use it can be put, rather than wasted attacking one particular ID
system.

...

 > Think twice, thrice, and more before being sure you are for record
 > aggregation. The truth is, I think, that you have an ideal in your head
 > that, unfortunately, does not reflect reality.

	I haven't read a posting yet in this thread that can't accept
this description.  More directly, from my point of view, this is the
pot calling the kettle black.

...

 > Have we forgotten our history so quickly? How did the Germans keep track
 > of the Jews during the Holocaust, for example? Can you say, "IBM", boys
 > and girls?

Yes, and you can kill someone with a scalpel, so we should make surgery
illegal.

 > And with the fascist ways the Bush Administration has been carrying on
 > lately, are you *sure* it's a good thing? No one that had anything pro-
 > Kerry on their persons, even in their wallets, or bumper stickers on
 > their cars even, were allowed into the Republican convention. Hello? Did
 > I miss something? Has anyone been paying attention? Guess not.

That works for me.  It's not as though conservatives are welcomed at
liberal venues.  National media presentments notwithstanding, I think
that the "fascist" label applies at least as well to Democrats as it
does to Republicans.

...

 > Consider this -- cameras in public places, connected to face recognition
 > software, that can track your every move -- everyone's every move. Have
 > you seen "Minority Report"? I suggest you do if you haven't. There
 > already are companies claiming they can pick out faces of "convicts" out
 > of a crowd, say, at a ball park, and this technology has already been
 > tested under those conditions. I think they had high false positive
 > rates, but thats the whole problem. Many innocents can be harassed due
 > to no fault of their own -- just because the *machine* mistook their
 > face for a known felon. 

You make my original point for me.  A national ID card can only make
us more vigilant and them more sloppy.

 > Witness what is already in place -- Airport Insecurity. On a flight I
 > took recently, I and my business partner were flagged and have all of
 > our belongings searched with a glove. I had to watch total strangers
 > poke and prod my underwear in full sight of everyone. And yet I was
 > thinking the whole time -- just for fun, to keep myself amused -- ways
 > around their infective over-security that a real terrorist with 2
 > neurons to rub together can get around. 

...

You'll have to stop packing the embarrassing types of underwear then.
I've been inspected myself.  Other than the delay, I find it no big
deal.  But I still don't see how an ID card makes this any worse.

...

 > And to be honest, I would not want  truly *effective* security in place.

Nor will you ever see it.  It's not about security.  It's about the
general public's perception of security.  Sell tickets.  Buy votes.
What you will see is something more invasive and less secure than we
have now.  Because "news" people need to sell advertising.

...

							Bill