Just found a timely article by Bruce Schneier on WIRED News that fits in nicely with my last post about how the Senate has let us down.
Here's the core of Schneier's essay:
Since 9/11, two -- or maybe three -- things have potentially improved airline security: reinforcing the cockpit doors, passengers realizing they have to fight back and -- possibly -- sky marshals. Everything else -- all the security measures that affect privacy -- is just security theater and a waste of effort.
By the same token, many of the anti-privacy "security" measures we're seeing -- national ID cards, warrantless eavesdropping, massive data mining and so on -- do little to improve, and in some cases harm, security. And government claims of their success are either wrong, or against fake threats.
The debate isn't security versus privacy. It's liberty versus control.
Excellent points. Check out the rest of the article for more about this. I just wish those 18 Democrats and all the Republicans who voted down the anti-spying bill had read this before voting.
Chris
