John Gilmore points out how to have fun with bomb scanners by using hand lotion with Glycerine, or at least points out how easily such expensive equipment can be rendered useless. If equipment has any significant number of false-positives, be sure that it, or procedures, will tune out any hope of finding a real needle in the haystack.

Also, if you notice an “S” on your boarding pass, prepare for extra scrutiny at the airport. The TSA believes, based on often erroneous matching, that you are a member of its “Selectee” list of people who need additional security measures.

Be sure to check out EPIC’s site, “Documents Show Errors in TSA’s “No-Fly” Watchlist”

-—-Original Message—– From: John Gilmore [mailto:gnu@toad.com] Sent: Sunday, May 18, 2003 3:25 PM To: Jason C Axley Exchange Subject: Re: The War on David Nelson

> > … people who want to see if their name is on either list or who > > want to make a complaint, can call the agency’s contact center at > > 866-289-9673 or send an e-mail to TellTSA@tsa.dot.gov. > > Since this inquiry will no doubt result in a listing where none previously > existed, I would suggest that everyone reading this make an inquiry - > *especially* those of us with very common names. Let the system break under > it’s own weight.

If you want to break the system under its own weight, I also suggest using lots of “Kiss My Face” honey scented hand cream. Someone recently told me setting off the nitrogylcerin censors (oops, I mean sensors) at that spot where they wipe down your bag with little pads and then put them through a quick chemical analysis. When she set it off, they went down a checklist of “Did you do X recently?” until they got to “Did you put on hand cream recently?” They let her through, of course; you probably can’t blow up an airplane with hand cream. The problem was with their sensorship, not with her.

If even 1% of travelers refused to show an ID, the system would also break down under its own weight. Do your part. There is no law or regulation that requires you to show ID. You are all being sheep for violating your own privacy, for no reason, when ordered by people who have no authority. Demand that they show you such a law, and refuse to show ID until they identify one. As you go up the chain of command, you will find that you have the option to be searched rather than show an ID. In regimes where the laws are secret, the only way to find out what the law is, is to not follow orders.

John

PS: I doubt that sending a complaint to TSA results in them adding you to the no-fly list. It’s random and arbitrary, but not THAT random and arbitrary. If you want to see the complaints of some of the ordinary people who TSA mousetraps every single time they enter an airport, (not just the David Nelsons), check EPIC’s FOIA results. The dozens of complaints forwarded via Congresspeople are well worth reading:

https://www.plastic.com/article.html;sid=03/03/12/06265215;cmt=42

-——————————————————————– The Cryptography Mailing List Unsubscribe by sending “unsubscribe cryptography” to majordomo@metzdowd.com