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Airport Monitoring of Travellers via Blackberry
glhturbo writes "According to this article in Mass. High Tech, Massachusetts State Police stationed at Logan Airport will soon have access (via Blackberry handhelds) to "7 billion records" containing information on "nearly 98 percent of the U.S. population, including, for example, a person's prior residence and with whom he or she lived, criminal information, court filings, vehicles owned, and even restricted government data." The database is from a Massachusetts company, LocatePlus, started by a former policeman who was "on the waiting list for the FBI". Seems like a good tool, but major potential for abuse, and hopefully no false identifications."
Instead of just pulling celebrities out of the waiting line to check them, airport security gaurds can find out where they live!
It'll be really nice to know that there are going to be tons of these little handheld devices with access to these huge dossiers on the whole population.
This is a neat little database, but I have to wonder what the quality of the database is. If it's like other databases, it's sorely out of date. Can't be an easy job to keep tabs on 98% of the population.
And I also wonder about the false positive rate. Extensive databases might just show up how connected we are. Just like studies that show that a huge number of us are related to the Queen of England through some tenuous tie, if we dug deep enough I bet we could find links between millions of average Joes and people who are terrorists. Insignificant links, but how does the database know that? It comes down to the judgement of the officer, and his training. And any security system that shows a false positive rate is weakened by that. False negatives are much less damaging to security.
I get a picture in my head from the movie "A Beautiful Mind" where John Nash is in his shed, putting pictures and strings on the wall, showing all the relationships between them. Except, these relationships are going to be in a database, and will be taken seriously just because a computer said so.
No weapon in the arsenals of the world is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men.-Ronald Reagan
There are many things I'd give for the sake of convenience... but this is going a bit too far. I'll take my privacy, thank you very much. Who exactly is going to be able to view this information? And how far does this "restricted government data" extend? It's one thing when it's a trained government officer making sure I'm not toting a shoe bomb. It's another thing when the steward has access to all my records.
... I should get to know the same information about the people "screening" me.
Speak truth to power.
I don't see how it's any different than any other "personal information awareness" technology in that respect. I mean, there's always the problem that someone who's not supposed to have access gains it (say, by password).
There are relatively easy ways to help prevent this sort of abuse, too. Will they be implemented? Let's hope so.
A Blackberry is not exactly the device I would be using to try to get the records of every person in the system, of course.
-Erwos
Plausible conjecture should not be misrepresented as proof positive.
How strong is the encryption used? I'd seriously question both the encryption and the key distribution in a scheme like this. There's plenty of room for mischef.
"Eve of Destruction", it's not just for old hippies anymore...
Eh? Is it 1984 or 2004? These days I just can't tell.
I remember the goverment making profiles of people who where doing war protests and the like. Will this information be included in the profile? I also seem to recall an incident where a protester was flagged at harrased at an airport.
I think the editor misspelled "incredibly
fucking evil".
That's why I stopped flying.
-I like my women like I like my tea: green-
A: This service has zero info that you shouldn't have. It's all public records, the scary part of this service is that they seem to have most of the nation's public records about individuals assembled in an easy-to-query form.
B: Since this company charges by the query, too many queries from a device will likely cause that device quickly be deauthorized by whomever's paying the bill.
The truck driver is driving 100 pounds of TNT in a delivery crate right into the airport unchecked. What pisses me off most about this loss of privacy, how your personal information including your underwear size and what are the last 3 videos you rented are - is that for all that work, and all that money spent on technology, they don't do shit to actually secure the place. You think you can drive a truck up to an El Al airliner in Tel Aviv unchecked? Not unless you want a .50cal Barrett round in the chest from 5000 meters away before you get anywhere NEAR the airliner.
Read Marcus Ranum's book, the "Myth of Homeland Security." Yay, we paid for a bunch of blackberries that will get lost or stolen and some tech firm pocketed good change with a fat ass Oracle project. Yay.
You, the passenger, aren't one damn bit safer. Tell yourself that while you watch the truck load the pretzels and soda pop out the window while the guys are looking in your toiletry bag at your toothbrush and blackberrying to see if you ever lived in Hoboken, NJ.
Lastly, you know why the terrorists picked Logan to board? As CNN and others reported in the weeks that followed 9/11 - Logan's security was known to be the worst on the eastern seaboard.
I also worked in the insurance industry. We also had the screen actors guild account - for everywhere but CA. My coworkers and me would look up movie stars and gawk at their personal info - most of it just said something like "Joe Berstein talent, NY,NY" or something like that - but the point is ---WE WERE SNOOPING.
I have no excuse nor reason - we were star struck.
My Point Personal information will be abused somehow!
Like, I won't arrest you if you pay me 10k.... Or I won't tell your wife you've been living in an apartment in Florida with an unmarried woman...
The potential for abuse is just enormous.
However, this kind of capability is not going to go away. What we need is a structure in place that will ensure that no abuses take place. It's a cliche, but we need a monitor of the monitors...
Here's another one (but appropriate): who will monitor the monitors of the monitors?
...so, like 97%?
You can pretty safely assume that if someone has access to a database and something to gain, and no chance of being caught (i.e. no auditing of queries), they will use the information.
Don't forget folks, it's not only the Republicans who are itching to strip your rights away. Massachusetts is about as Democratic as you can get and they're in on it too.
-S
--- What parts of "shall make no law", "shall not be infringed", and "shall not be violated" don't you understand?
When I can find out Bill G's home address, Dick Cheney's driver's licence number, George's arrest record, and Ken Lay's bank balance - then I'll say it's fair.
Anyone who says this is not ripe for abuse is a shareholder.
Boston is also "randomly" searching its subway passengers. The Supreme Court ruled this month that Americans must give their name to police who ask, even without cause, or be arrested. Freedom's just another word for something left to lose.
--
make install -not war
Makes me seriously want to live off the grid. I do not feel any more secure knowing some hack has information on 98% of the U.S. population on a glorified palm pilot, what if this device "walks away"? All that info in the wrong hands (ACTUAL BADGUYS, id thieves, spammers, etc) is scary. I hate the fact that when 19 foreign citizens do some bad shit, 300 million legal Americans have to pay for the incompetance of our government to stop it. It is a classic kneejerk reaction, the current administration has eroded 200 years of balanced liberty and security in 4 years, that has to be some kind of record. I feel less safe, and downright ashamed of our preemptive attacks and feeble attempts at nation building. The way the little guy has taken it in the ass in these past 4 years is astounding. Where to begin? The overtime ripoff, outsourcing, tax cuts for the rich, PATRIOT act, PATRIOT II, TIA, DMCA, "show me your papers", and that is just the beginning. I would vote for Nader if I thought he could actually win, so I will vote for Kerry instead. Mr. Kerry has actually come out with stances on issues, most of which I agree with. I was worried he was not going to have any discernible viewpoint on anything for a second.
I hate sigs.
Note: I'm merely throwing out a hypothetical, this is not necessarily my belief. Just a discussion point.
On Slashdot, it is commonly argued and agreed upon that "security thru obscurity" is a falacy and the best way to get yourself into trouble. Obscure facts and details are eventually discovered and exploited. It is better to have all source and algorithms out in the open, have everyone pick at it, find the holes and patch them.
Compare this to the commonly held belief in keeping all personal information "secret". If someone tries hard enough, they can pretty much discover any information about yourself. Private detectives, for example, specialize in "hacking" personal information (arrest record, who you are sleeping with). Would it not be better to "open source" your life and deal with the consequences? Your SSN and Credit Card numbers should be secured with something better than mere obscurity, for example. If you are cheating on your spouse you would assume you are going to be caught and be able to deal with the consequences. With everything out in the open we don't have to worry about blackmail and dirty tricks and you better know people's character and motivations. Kinda like looking inside a program's source and seeing the flaws.
Note, these are NOT my opinions, just things that went through my head at 10pm.
Brian Ellenberger
So, what if the data is wrong? I'd say the results would be worse than identity theft or a simple bad credit report.
With ID theft, bad data gets attached to you and affects your ability to find jobs, get loans, rent housing, etc. But, it only affects you (perhaps also a spouse). You can get your data and try to fix it. Takes 200 hours and never quite finishes, but you have rights and the credit agencies have duties.
With this system, bad data will affect you and your ability to travel. The government has admitted that it has no responsibility to fix bad data in government files. So, you'll have few to zero chances to fix it. And the best part is bad data about you will creep out to taint anyone you've associated with. If you look bad, then so do your old roommates. And your new business partners. And whoever you call regularly. So now grandma will get a free breast cancer screening whenever she flies (mmmmm. Wand searches).
From my favorite essay written by a precog on privacy post 9/11( the former Canadian privacy czar's excellent essay), as I commented here in this thread on airlines gave away your privacy (and it definitely applies to those of us in the US, he's warning Canadians not to do what the US was doing already):
"[gives example of Canada wanting to collect data, US style]... This is unprecedented. The Government of Canada has absolutely no business creating a massive database of personal information about all law-abiding Canadians that is collected without our consent from third parties, not to provide us with any service but simply to have it available to use against us if it ever becomes expedient to do so. Compiling dossiers on the private activities of all law-abiding citizens is the sort of t
A: This service has zero info that you shouldn't have. It's all public records, the scary part of this service is that they seem to have most of the nation's public records about individuals assembled in an easy-to-query form.
The fact that info is public record does NOT mean that it's OK to assemble it with OTHER information that is ALSO public record and make the result - or even the original public records - available at electronic speed.
One of the big objections to the creation of the Social Security System was that the SS# would serve as a universal identifier, making it easier to assemble dossiers of individuals from diverse public records. This almost killed the program - which was eventually passed on the promise (among others) that the nubmer would NEVER EVER EVER be used in that way.
Remember that this was before WWII, which means before computers and even xerography. ("copying" was, at best, thermofax, blueprint, or photography.) AND in the midst of the "Great Depression", with its starving masses of people (including the elderly) who had just gone bankrupt and lost their homes, farms, and businesses in a pre "welfare" system environment.
Can you IMAGINE how concerned they were to consider blocking the creation of the SS system JUST to prevent the hand-construction and misuse of manual dossiers composed of public information?
The US classified information rules DO classify the JUXTIPOSITION of certain publicly available unclassified information - whenever this juxtaposition hints at something that IS sensitive. This happens in nuclear physics, radio, and several other fields. Why should individuals be any less protected from combining public information in a way that stips more of their privacy than the individual records standing alone?
= = = =
Databases run in their private time by policemen or retired policemen were, back in the '70s, a dodge to get around new laws banning ilicit governmental record keeping. These laws were passed after the government's investigative agencies at all levels (FBI, Military Intelligence, State/County/City police) went 'WAY out of bounds on domestic surveilance and so-called "dirty tricks" against people suspected of participating in the civil rights and anti(vietnam)war movement. (See COINTELPRO for an example.)
They were SUPPOSED to destroy the ill-gotten info. But instead some of them absconded with it and set up for-profit companies to maintain it and sell access back to the very police departments that weren't supposed to have it. This let the departments continue to use it and CLAIM that they didn't have it.
So this one is run by a former policeman, eh? Any bets on whether it's a modern continuation of one of those ilicit databases?
= = = =
Dylan said you had to pay to keep from going through these things twice. Well we DID pay and we're STILL going through them again! B-(
B: Since this company charges by the query, too many queries from a device will likely cause that device quickly be deauthorized by whomever's paying the bill.
Aren't we talking about the Federal Government's Homeland Security boondoggle department? Somehow I doubt that breaking the US budget is an issue.
Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
In 1987 I founded a company in Orlando, FL that did most of this.
:-)
1987 was before the public was aware of the Internet, so it wasn't as prevalent. But, using CompuServe's packet switching network, we had access to most of the nation's public records: auto, plane & boat registration; worker's comp records; driver's licenses; arrest records; court filings; etc.
We also had access to the "top half" of a credit report. The major credit bureaus make a fortune selling the non-credit related info they have: names, addresses, employment history, etc. Federal law *prohibited* most law enforcement agencies from directly accessing this data.
For three years *we* made a small fortune reselling this info to several police/sheriff departments.
This experience taught me three things:
1. Gather all that information and even if a bunch of it is out of date or invalid, you can put together a VERY accurate picture of someone's life.
2. Many LEOs were quite loose with information they were not supposed to access or share. By this I mean cops sitting in parking lots running every tag, DL and NCIC reports on every driver. I also received full information requests on cop girlfriends, ex-wives, etc.
They are also more than willing to discretely share things like DL photos, NCIC records, etc. with people who give them data.
Hell, at one time I found full info on an escaped murderer who had been hiding for 10 years. His wife once applied for a Sears credit card using his real SSN. THAT led to a California DL photo that confirmed it was him; auto tag in Nevada with an almost-current address; and a forwarding address from a gas company that owed him a refund - bingo.
$5,000 reward, certificate of appreciation from 3 law enforcement agencies, and the knowledge that 98% of all $100 bills in circulation have enough drug residue on them to hit a drug dog. So, while taking that stack of $100s to the bank, I had a personal contact in the US Marshall's Office if I got stopped.
Oh, yeah, #3. The most important.
How to hide in today's society if I really want to.
chill
- These tools/extended rights will be abused.
- They won't help to prevent terrorist attacks.
How many terrorists are US citizens? Even if they previously they student visas, etc, terrorist groups just have to stay out of the US until right before the attack. There will be no records on them, and hence this does nothing to prevent them from pursuing their actions.But now there is this huge pool easily accessible information out there, just waiting to be used for other purposes.
Anyway, IMHO there will never be an attack like 9/11 again, because on 9/11 the terrorists relied on the will and hope of the passengers to stay alive. Now, if a plane is hijacked the passengers will have to assume that they will die, hence it will be impossible to control them (what would you threadten them with?) That's what happened to the 4th plane on 9/11 when people on the plane learned about the other attacks via cellphone.
I have one of these devices (I'm a cop), although I do not live in Mass, and it uses a different provider for the information. All of the information is based on collection from three sources: public records, driving records, and criminal history. The public records are fairly accurate, but they are not perfect. The driving and criminal records are more accurate, and reflect the same information that I can collect when running a vehicle tag or a driver's license. That's the key. I need to know who I am searching for in order to get the information. I can't just put in a name, for example, with no other information (such as a date of birth, SSN, city of birth, etc.) and expect to receive any information. It just doesn't work that way. Is it dangerous? Depends on your stance towards records queries, I suppose. I can get all of this information without the Blackberry, but it is more convenient when I'm on foot interacting with a crowd to have the device. Push come to shove, however, and I'll take you back to the patrol car to get the information. It works for both of us, in a sense. I don't have to go back to the car to get the info, and you don't have to waste the time coming with me. Something else to consider: I am required by law (at least in my state) to protect the information that I gather on a person. The law is so protective that I can be held responsible if someone else HEARS the information on my radio, including the person I am checking! This would undoubtedly extend to my control over the Blackberry. If I lost it, I would be in a great deal of civil liability. That doesn't prevent someone from using the device illegally, granted, but it is something to consider none the less.
Yet I bet that their "120,000" number is about as good as my own analysis above- sounds very precise, but not at all accurate... But since those HTQ people are now defined- and who wants to waste data- they're going to show up in the gov't databases. And then their roommates and co-workers are going to get flagged as medium TQ people. And then their roommates get to be medium-low TQ people. And so on and so on... If you're lucky you'll only be a LLML TQ, but no one gets to be 100% free of the taint.
Even though that original 120k number doesn't pass the sniff test. Sure, ".04%" seems like a small number, but that equals one in 2500 people. Is 1/2500 people in the US a terrorist? That'd be 1 terrorist per 10 airplane flights, or several terrorists per major sporting event, or 400 terrorists in Silicon Valley (plus the 30 laid off who've moved back home). Unless they're all fantastically incompetent, the US should have several terror events per day.
[Pause to answer knock on door....]
Oh, never mind, we are crawling with terrorists, like the Peace Fresno anti-war group with their monthly streetside protest. Forgot that civil disobedience is now terrorism. Unless its lawful civil disobedience, of course. I'm just going to go back to my Orrin Hatch CD now.
it was only a matter of time. All of the "services" that LocatePlus offers are matters of public record, which means that by the law you, I, or any jackass Orwellian fascist w/ a frutrated Big Brother complex ( *ahem* Jon Latorella - that's you bub! ) can access them and do whatever the hell he wants with them.
If you want an example of how available these records are now, check out Adams County Records. I've used them before to see if charges had been filed on friends, etc. So it's not hard to get, especially in the "digital" age.
What is scary is the fact that our society ( and our judicial branch in particular - which should be motivated by an evolving sense of ethics and morality, which, well, DOESN'T SEEM TO BE FUCKING EVOLVING to cope with our changing world ) doesn't seem to be able to prevent these abuses. Because a private citizen ( or a government agency, for that matter, but they have a lot of liabilities under the law that private citizens don't, that limit their abuses ) compiling a database from public records ( which aren't always accurate ) and then selling it to government agencies ( which is now probably excused for their mistakes due to the fact they were using "someone else's system" ) is most definitely an abuse. It's the basest whoring of public information that I can possibly think of.
Which beggars another question : if we were as intelligent and moral as we suppose, why haven't we done the following :
1) rather than releasing records freely, release them under a public license, similar to the GPL. Since they would have to be copyrighted to be released under a license, why not copyright each citizen's information to that person, and their relatives owning their copyright when they die? Yeah, it sounds sick in a way - you're copyrighted, dude ! - but it would prevent commercial and governmental abuses like this. Your information is copyrighted to yourself, freely available under the Citizen's General Public License or some such shit, and any sentencing, divorce, etc., is an addendum to the copyrighted work - namely YOU. And you have to authorize any use of your records which involves commercial profit.
2) Made laws disallowing the use of public records for direct commercial gain.
3) Passed laws that required private and public agencies furnishing public or private information to other agencies to be be directly culpable for all misuse, negative repurcussions, etc., that result from any inaccurate or outdated information that they provide. This one rings home with me particularly strongly tonight, since I just found out that 2 medical bills that I paid over a year ago still show up on my credit as unpaid debts. There's no accountability there, even though I've badgered these bastards before to update their records.
Yeah, making laws doesn't always solve a problem, but making the right ones will. Stop telling people who they can fuck, how they can get high, stop giving money to religious "charities", stop supporting people that are unwilling to work but still willing to reproduce, legislating the RIAA's paranoid crusade about whether I can copy a fucking DVD or not, and start making some laws that pull that metaphorical boot off of our face. Because I only see it getting worse. And this is the really goddamn scary part kids :
I see it getting a whole worse before it gets any better.
PC moderators can suck my White pierced, tattooed dick. If you think pride == hate, s/dick/Aryan meat mallet/g.
It's even more disturbing that these people will have access to my ex-girlfriend in college that I haven't spoken to in 10 years.
I'm sure a lot of folks have accessed MY ex-girlfriend. In fact, that is why we broke up.