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"Clear" Air-Travel Pass Data Stolen From SFO
Kozar_The_Malignant writes "A laptop containing the unencrypted security data for 33,000 travelers using the Clear system was stolen at San Francisco International Airport on July 26, according to CBS5 Television. The Clear system allows travelers who register and pay a $100.00 annual fee to speed through airport security by using a smart card at special kiosks in some airports. TSA has suspended new registrations in the system, which is run by a private contractor, Verified Identity Pass, Inc., a subsidiary of GE. The laptop was apparently stolen from a locked office at SFO. The company has now decided that it might be a good idea to encrypt the data in their systems. They are in the process of notifying customers that all of their personal data, including name, address, SSi number, passport number, date of birth, etc. has been compromised."
Yea, and this also brings some interesting light to the issue with "If you have nothing to hide, why don't you want to provide us with your [biometrics|passport|id|*]" argument.
Refusing to give away address, email, phones, SSID along with fingerprints is almost considered a crime in itself right now, since if you are not planning on terrorist activities, you don't have anything to hide, have you!?
But here, perfectly innocent people suddenly have all their personal information spread to criminal groups or whoever end up being the buyer of this information.
Scary stuff...
Probable impossibilities are to be preferred to improbable possibilities.
Aristotele
Please tell me that there is going to either be prison time or a huge *personal* fine for the CEO of the tinpot company who thought that a lock and key was enough security. I'n not talking about firing the person who left it there or proped the door open to do the vacuuming, but the person at the top who says "Yes, this is cost effective and proper." We need to have people at board level think twice about storing our data so shockingly badly.
The whole point of outsourcing information and jobs like this to the private sector is to get the job done better and more efficiently.
That might be the point for you, but for the government officials there are other points to consider:
1) Who bid the lowest.
2) Will the company chosen contribute enough money to my/our campaign in the future.
3) Is there a way I can profit from my choice of contractor.
The idea that someone would believe a company is chosen for its actual merits is ludicrous.
Well, choosing a company based on something abstract like merits is illegal because it's often used to hide #2 and #3. Price is the only consideration you are allowed. Yes, it's stupid, but it's the way the taxpayer demands it be done.
Honestly, do you think larger corporations are any different? Deals are always given to good old boy friends who will give you something later. It's not even illegal, like it is in government.
What is it with planes? The only reason planes were so effective in 9/11 is because they TOOK IT OVER and FLEW IT INTO A BUILDING. That sort of thing won't happen again. I have a feeling everyone on the plane would fight it. Continuing to secure them like they're bloody fort knox is ridiculous. If the only reason we're worried about it is the potential for loss of human life... we're wasting our time. Why bomb one plane when you could blow up a whole airport terminal? Anyone remember Oklahoma city? Much more devastating than just a plane blowing up in mid-flight.
Don't get me wrong. I'm all about security where it's needed and where it's appropriate. I'd prefer not to be killed by a terrorist just as much as the next guy... but we've got to maintain some perspective here. You can't stop someone willing to commit suicide from killing people. Look at that guy in Japan that ran over people in a mall with a truck and then started stabbing people. He was armed with a KNIFE.
Throwing away our rights for the illusion of security depresses me.
You are using English. Please learn the difference between loose and lose; they're, there, and their; your and you're.
Nice to see the almost automated partisan knee-jerk moderating system is still working.
Bury my posts as trolling as fast as you can. It's not /. it's digg!
I was going to mod you troll, but you genuinely seem to not understand the moderation, so I thought this might be more educational.
Your posts are moderated as "troll" because your argument is poorly reasoned, poorly expressed, and wholly inflammatory. You fail to address the claims of "security theater" (ie, why identity verification increases safety of travel), and instead provide a fallacious and derogatory argument.
Your blaming this on partisanship only demonstrates a total lack of cognizance of your churlish use of logical fallacies to further a point, and moderation as "troll" is well deserved.
This is slashdot, not digg, and I hope that we have the capability to hold discourse to a higher standard.
Asking someone to show ID to get on a plane seems reasonable to me.
How does knowing a passenger's identity increase your safety aboard an airplane? I'd rather allow anonymous travel and require mandatory pat-downs than believe I'm any safer because some government hack knows the name of the guy that's willing to die so he can kill a few others.
So much for not needing 'papers' to travel inside the US.
Tiller's Rule: Never use a word in written form that you've only heard and never read. You will end up looking foolish.