I read this on Bruce’s blog and I think that as a society we should be outraged at this. Our freedoms are being taken away quietly, yet with the mild support of the public. It seems this latest ineffective make-people-feel-better-while-discriminating-and-eroding-personal-freedoms “security” measure figures to watch airplane passengers for the entire flight, to make sure they are not up to no good.
Tiny cameras the size of a fingernail linked to specialist computers are to be used to monitor the behaviour of airline passengers as part of the war on terrorism.
Cameras fitted to seat-backs will record every twitch, blink, facial expression or suspicious movement before ending the data to onboard software which will check it against individual passenger profiles. They say that rapid eye movements, blinking excessively, licking lips or ways of stroking hair or ears are classic symptoms of somebody trying to conceal something.
A separate microphone will hear and record even whispered remarks. Islamic suicide bombers are known to whisper texts from the Koran in the moments before they explode bombs.
We are steps away from banning Islam completely (here in the US). I’ve already posted about many dumb air travel ideas -with passports, terrorist scores, and rental cars for example- that don’t make us more secure but less.
In the words of Benjamin Franklin:
Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both.
Fanatics: 1
Democracy: 0