A thread today on the @UniversalHub twitter account started as follows:
RT @6x6pix: Random bag searches at park st station FYI.
RT @sarahebourne: They're not doing bag checks to see what you got them for Xmas. Is announcing time/location such a good idea?"
Even though I'm not the original poster, this is something I do, and I realized that there was no way I could fit my response into 140 characters.
I also tweet about it whenever I see the MBTA police bag-swabbing detail. I want to explain why.
- Bag-swabbing is security theatre.
- The current trends erode privacy.
- The MBTA is not open to suggestions to stop doing it.
Security Theatre: I think Bruce Schneier describes this concept best: "Security theater refers to security measures that make people feel more secure without doing anything to actually improve their security. .... Our penchant for movie plots blinds us to the broader threats. And security theater consumes resources that could better be spent elsewhere." (11/13/2009).
Eroding privacy: Submitting to being randomly stopped, having your personal items examined, and generally being inconvenienced without cause is part of what we used to make fun of Eastern Bloc countries for during the Cold War. You can not generally expect to be left alone if you're not doing anything wrong anymore. How is this acceptable? It's not an assumption of guilt yet, but it is an assumption that the Watchers have a right to supercede anything the Citizens happen to be doing with their day. For what?
Closed to Suggestions: I don't particularly think that tweeting the time and location of the bag swabbing is an effective protest, but it has begun to feel like the only mode of protest I have left. The first couple of times that I was stopped for bag-swabbing, I opted out, and I wrote to the MBTA to ask why they were doing this and to ask them to stop. I got a politely worded form letter stating that a judge had decided it didn't violate privacy, and so they weren't going to stop. They're not open to discussion on this. Opting out seems like the only means of protest I have left, and I'm not giving it up. When asked to submit to swabbing, I say no, and leave the station. This isn't an option I have for airplanes, and I'm fairly conflicted about what to do with the TSA's increasing insanity.
"Stopping the Bad Guys" isn't nearly as important to me as "Being the Good Guys". Yes, I tweet about the bag swabbers to make it easier for other people to avoid the swabbing stations. I will continue to do anything I can do to point out the ridiculousness of the current system.
Since I started writing this, there's been additional comments on the twitter conversation that started this. Here's the entire thread so far, for the sake of completeness, all from @UniversalHub (edit: OK, started as all UH retweets, but then became easier to just search for "@universalhub"):
RT @6x6pix: Random bag searches at park st station FYI.
RT @lizthegrey: Remember that you have a constitutional right to refuse and leave the station (and get on elsewhere downtown)
RT @AlertNewEngland: You may have the right to refuse, but not to get on elsewhere. When they ask you to leave, they mean it. #mbta
RT @lizthegrey: http://bit.ly/g7gGFw Know Your Rights - MBTA
RT @jared_egan: Just don't bring any bombs on the T and you'll be fine. I've never had my bag searched, just swabbed. And I look suspicious
RT @sarahebourne: They're not doing bag checks to see what you got them for Xmas. Is announcing time/location such a good idea?
RT @rascalking: you really think the bag checks catch anybody aside from drunks and people with drugs/weapons?
RT @sarahebourne: We know that no bombs have exploded. We don't know if they've ever found any. We can't know how many deterred.
RT @shocks: considering even the TSA admitted almost all planted items get through, I'm gonna rate MBTA as security theater too
RT @sarahebourne: So, what should they do, in light of Interpol warnings? http://bit.ly/fDgrQT "Theater" at least puts eyes on platforms
RT @rritterr: I would think bomb-sniffing dogs would be more effective and efficient than bag searches.
RT @dan4th: Actually, the point about Security Theatre being theatre is that it takes eyes OFF useful targets, and onto us.
@sarahebourne: @dan4th ...only if theater is all you're doing. @universalhub @MBTATransitPD
RT @MBTATransitPD: Transit Police patrol 24hrs a day and (police line)617-222-1212 and 911 are staffed 24hrs a day
RT @tplants: Study Israel's behavioral analysis. Actually go after people involved in shady business, not random searches of every grandma.
RT @AlertNewEngland: K9 doesn't just stand around for hours sniffing for bombs. They have a limited working time & need specific areas/targets.
RT @rascalking: @sarahebourne when do you stop using that rationalization? t cops carrying uzis? backscatter xrays at every entrance?
RT @sarahebourne: @rascalking Security in any realm has to be based on layers. Focusing solely on any 1 layer is bad security <cough>TSA</cough>
RT @lizthegrey: If the screening were actually done more effectively, I would mind less. A cursory flashlight inside my bag does nothing
rascalking: @sarahebourne layers that work are great. layers that are just for show waste money that could be used elsewhere
Jonna_Rae: The TSA Let a Loaded Gun Get on an Airplane- http://t.co/S5hnHzc (via @gizmodo) cc @universalhub #securitytheater
That's more cutting-and-pasting than I'm prepared to do. Click Here for @UniversalHub Search results
This sort of thing terrifies me more than the threat of terrorism.
ReplyDeleteBravo. If I were still in MA, I'd join in.
ReplyDeleteAlso: Any serious terrorist plot will have more than one participant, and so it would be trivially easy to have terrorist #1 try entering the station to see if searches are going on, and if not, text a message to terrorist #2 to bring in the bombs.
ReplyDelete