Why do you think it does not work? It's the clue that led to the dead man and to his nephew. It may now lead to the actual planners. True, it did not prevent the attacks. But it can lead to the capture of some people, which can prevent future attacks. So ultimately it does work.
The more secretive you are about your identity, more difficult will it be for you to restore it once its stolen. If your life is an open book, no one can steal it. Even if someone does, there will be so much tracks left, that it would be much easier to restore it.
How many people have you heard of who have had their identity stolen? Now how many people have you heard of who have lost their lives due to terrorist activities?
Since this information was collected at some point, now they have a lead. This can result in taking several of the terrorists out of the streets.
Without this lead, without able to arrest these terrorists, when they bomb next time, would you tell the victims it is just false dichotomy?
It's easy to be arm chair philosopher. But don't fool yourself. When you are directly affected, your concern for your life would always triumph your want for privacy rights.
If you are affected it is 100%. Till you are affected it is 0%. No matter if it is India, London or New York, there are people whose life could be saved, if you and I don't create this much fuss about wanting to keep our home address or SSN "top-secret" when you buy a phone connection or similar activity.
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It has been shown not to work.
Why do you think it does not work? It's the clue that led to the dead man and to his nephew. It may now lead to the actual planners. True, it did not prevent the attacks. But it can lead to the capture of some people, which can prevent future attacks. So ultimately it does work.
The more secretive you are about your identity, more difficult will it be for you to restore it once its stolen. If your life is an open book, no one can steal it. Even if someone does, there will be so much tracks left, that it would be much easier to restore it. How many people have you heard of who have had their identity stolen? Now how many people have you heard of who have lost their lives due to terrorist activities?
Since this information was collected at some point, now they have a lead. This can result in taking several of the terrorists out of the streets. Without this lead, without able to arrest these terrorists, when they bomb next time, would you tell the victims it is just false dichotomy? It's easy to be arm chair philosopher. But don't fool yourself. When you are directly affected, your concern for your life would always triumph your want for privacy rights.
If you are affected it is 100%. Till you are affected it is 0%. No matter if it is India, London or New York, there are people whose life could be saved, if you and I don't create this much fuss about wanting to keep our home address or SSN "top-secret" when you buy a phone connection or similar activity.