4 ms·

Is the goal of airport security to mitigate fear or to mitigate credible threats to the safety of the occupants? Schneier isn't endorsing the practice of setti

Is the goal of airport security to mitigate fear or to mitigate credible threats to the safety of the occupants? Schneier isn't endorsing the practice of setting off dry ice bombs in airports, he's only pointing out that if a system is designed to stop actions that will result in actual harm to humans, then we shouldn't consider the failure to stop grossly inconsiderate pranks a failure. Consider that: * The perpetrator wasn't carrying any substances that could be used in a credible threat to the airport occupants. * Did not execute a plan to physically harm anyone. * Was not in contact with individuals who intend to carry out any credible threat to the airport.

auctiontheory 13y ago
"Safety" is emotional as well as physical.
- bradleyland 13y ago
  Ugh. Ok, so rephrase that as "mitigate credible threats to the physical safety of the occupants". If we expand the role of the TSA at airports to protecting the emotional safety of travelers, we've set ourselves to an impossible task. What comforts one person will disturb another. I think we can all agree that setting off dry ice bombs in airports is not something we should allow. The question is, what measures will we take to prevent it? I'm not sure it warrants a TSA-like response.
- glenra 13y ago
  In that case: the current TSA is quite harmful to my emotional safety. Disbanding it and letting me just go to the gate and get on the damn plane unmolested would greatly improve my emotional state. In all honesty, I think a HUGE part of why people think the airport is dangerous is due to the security. People falsely assume that where there's smoke there must be fire. In this case that assumption is wrong. We should replace TSA with prominent signs explaining how unlikely all the movie-plot threats are. At a minimum, we need: (1) a poster explaining that a gun fired on an airplane is highly unlikely to damage the plane at all and - contrary to hollywood myths - can't cause a loss of cabin pressure much less "explosive decompression". (2) a poster explaining why 9/11-type attacks became nearly impossible to repeat shortly after the event became general knowledge.

auctiontheory 13y ago

"Safety" is emotional as well as physical.

bradleyland 13y ago
Ugh. Ok, so rephrase that as "mitigate credible threats to the physical safety of the occupants". If we expand the role of the TSA at airports to protecting the emotional safety of travelers, we've set ourselves to an impossible task. What comforts one person will disturb another. I think we can all agree that setting off dry ice bombs in airports is not something we should allow. The question is, what measures will we take to prevent it? I'm not sure it warrants a TSA-like response.
glenra 13y ago
In that case: the current TSA is quite harmful to my emotional safety. Disbanding it and letting me just go to the gate and get on the damn plane unmolested would greatly improve my emotional state. In all honesty, I think a HUGE part of why people think the airport is dangerous is due to the security. People falsely assume that where there's smoke there must be fire. In this case that assumption is wrong. We should replace TSA with prominent signs explaining how unlikely all the movie-plot threats are. At a minimum, we need: (1) a poster explaining that a gun fired on an airplane is highly unlikely to damage the plane at all and - contrary to hollywood myths - can't cause a loss of cabin pressure much less "explosive decompression". (2) a poster explaining why 9/11-type attacks became nearly impossible to repeat shortly after the event became general knowledge.