[Infowarrior] - Schneier-v-Hawley on TSA (Economist debate)

[Richard Forno]

https://www.economist.com/debate/days/view/822


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As this debate begins its final descent, victory for the proposer, Bruce Schneier, looks certain. The vast majority of voters have agreed with him that the harm done by modern-day airport security outweighs its good. Commenters have written about the humiliation, stress and anger that accompany their experiences at the airport. "I'd much rather have less hassle and higher risk," said one. Many accede to that view.

Mr Schneier expands on the harms attributable to modern airport security in his closing statement. It has led, he says, to a loss of trust, physical harm, economic losses, a loss of liberty and an increase in fear. The last of these is particularly notable in the context of a system designed to contain terrorism, because governments that make passengers scared "effectively do the terrorists' job for them".

Kip Hawley's closing statement does not entirely refute such allegations. He knows that "[A]irport security now drives everybody crazy with frustration," and he has noted previously that change is needed in a system that has ended up stacking different security processes on top of one another. But he insists that airport security does still catch the bad guys. In his closing statement he gives an example of how the threat from a potential bomber was resolved with the application of intelligence information together with modern security procedures.

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https://www.economist.com/debate/days/view/822

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