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Ok and does that measurably reduce safety? You can get practically everyone's details from marketing companies - the direct increased risk from this seems like

Ok and does that measurably reduce safety? You can get practically everyone's details from marketing companies - the direct increased risk from this seems like it's zero to negligible. The overall risk seems like it's probably falling on the beneficial side as discouraging people with bad intentions from flying likely has a negligibly positive effect on risk.

sneak 6y ago
> Ok and does that measurably reduce safety? You can get practically everyone's details from marketing companies - the direct increased risk from this seems like it's zero to negligible. Not everybody. Lots of us go to great lengths to preserve our privacy when engaging in commercial transactions. You can pay cash, use a cover name, only have things shipped to your postbox/office, or only engage with vendors who have adequate security and privacy practices. You can't fly without engaging with the TSA. They're the only game in town. Additionally, many people in society are especially vulnerable, such as labor or political organizers, investigative journalists, and public officials. Having their home addresses leaked, or their family members' home addresses leaked, poses a direct threat to life and safety. You can opt out of data brokers, or spyware smartphone apps, or use a cover name when you order a delivery sandwich or pizza to the building you sleep in. You can't use a cover name or opt out of the TSA.
- redler 6y ago
  Likewise, consider that these data will be at the complete and unsupervised disposal of any future politically vindictive "acting" (as has become the fashion) director of homeland security.
- alasdair_ 6y ago
  > You can't fly without engaging with the TSA. They're the only game in town. If you have enough money you simply fly private. His is one of many reasons why the TSA continues to have problems - senior politicians and wealthy people barely need to deal with them. In some ways it’s like HOV lanes in DC that have rates up to $80 for a single ride. The people most likely to be angered by traffic and to actually have the power to force changes to be made get to skip the traffic. See also any legal issue that can be solved by paying for a good lawyer and a high extra price for “expedited” government service (anything from immigration to getting a passport).
godelski 6y ago
There's good evidence that more people choose to drive rather than deal with TSA and the rising costs (due to 'security') and as a result cause more deaths (because driving is less safe than flying). So yes https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2013/09/excess_automobi.html https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2013/09/excess_automo...
- ghaff 6y ago
  That blog post is from 2013 and cites a study from about 10 years earlier. Pre-COVID-19, flying was booming. So, no, there isn't good evidence. (Of course, people are driving at the moment.)
  - godelski 6y ago
    The topic is more generalized to TSA as a whole and not exclusive to covid TSA. The argument in the article I linked is about how growing security measures is pushing people away from air travel by both privacy and cost to support the new security theater. A continuation of such growth does not dismiss the claims, in fact it reinforces them.

sneak 6y ago

> Ok and does that measurably reduce safety? You can get practically everyone's details from marketing companies - the direct increased risk from this seems like it's zero to negligible. Not everybody. Lots of us go to great lengths to preserve our privacy when engaging in commercial transactions. You can pay cash, use a cover name, only have things shipped to your postbox/office, or only engage with vendors who have adequate security and privacy practices. You can't fly without engaging with the TSA. They're the only game in town. Additionally, many people in society are especially vulnerable, such as labor or political organizers, investigative journalists, and public officials. Having their home addresses leaked, or their family members' home addresses leaked, poses a direct threat to life and safety. You can opt out of data brokers, or spyware smartphone apps, or use a cover name when you order a delivery sandwich or pizza to the building you sleep in. You can't use a cover name or opt out of the TSA.

redler 6y ago
Likewise, consider that these data will be at the complete and unsupervised disposal of any future politically vindictive "acting" (as has become the fashion) director of homeland security.
alasdair_ 6y ago
> You can't fly without engaging with the TSA. They're the only game in town. If you have enough money you simply fly private. His is one of many reasons why the TSA continues to have problems - senior politicians and wealthy people barely need to deal with them. In some ways it’s like HOV lanes in DC that have rates up to $80 for a single ride. The people most likely to be angered by traffic and to actually have the power to force changes to be made get to skip the traffic. See also any legal issue that can be solved by paying for a good lawyer and a high extra price for “expedited” government service (anything from immigration to getting a passport).

godelski 6y ago

There's good evidence that more people choose to drive rather than deal with TSA and the rising costs (due to 'security') and as a result cause more deaths (because driving is less safe than flying). So yes https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2013/09/excess_automobi.html https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2013/09/excess_automo...

ghaff 6y ago
That blog post is from 2013 and cites a study from about 10 years earlier. Pre-COVID-19, flying was booming. So, no, there isn't good evidence. (Of course, people are driving at the moment.)
- godelski 6y ago
  The topic is more generalized to TSA as a whole and not exclusive to covid TSA. The argument in the article I linked is about how growing security measures is pushing people away from air travel by both privacy and cost to support the new security theater. A continuation of such growth does not dismiss the claims, in fact it reinforces them.