OldGoat

There's a insightful article here that talks about the future of TSA. It references this MSNBC travel article and goes further to say:

"Some security analysts suggest Big Brother will employ an even Bigger Brother in the form of "chip-embedded passports that someday tell the federal transportation watchdogs all about your daily commutes to work, the mall — even to parties...."

"...Senior policy analyst at the Center for Health and Homeland Security Vernon R. Herron told MSNBC that your official travel document "will not only have information as to who you are and where you have traveled, but it will also ... allow government officials to track your travel not only in the air, but your daily travels to work, grocery stores and social events." In the future the "government will detain passengers who have traveled to places that are suspicious in nature" once they enter an airport..."

Yet the money quote is here: "Digg commenter leodin said, "Strange... The actual threat of terrorism hasn't increased, and the odds of actually dying in a terrorist attack make the lottery look like a sound investment, and yet the government seems insistent upon taking more and more measures to protect us from these imaginary threats."

boatseller

From PCWorld:

Will the Future TSA Track All Your 'Daily Travels...'

Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner:
"doing their best to ensure that if there's a terrorist attack the public doesn't blame the TSA for missing it"

hl78

""Strange... The actual threat of terrorism hasn't increased, and the odds of actually dying in a terrorist attack make the lottery look like a sound investment, and yet the government seems insistent upon taking more and more measures to protect us from these imaginary threats.""

Wally Bird

...analysts...suggest. Yeah, ask some self-appointed expert to give you an hysterical, shocking sound bite .

Just leave your "passport" at home when you go to parties @:-) .

exerda

Until, of course, courts allow the extension of inside-the-border border checks ("What, you don't look like a US citizen to me... gonna have to detain you while we verify that since you don't have your passport or birth certificate to prove it--should have had one with you, eh?") or RealID compliant-DLs are tracked similarly...

Don't bet against someone at DHS (and a contractor who is ready to spend Uncle's $$ pursuing it) having that idea right at this moment.

mikemey

Read this article and get ready for the real Big Brother:

http://www.networkworld.com/communit...els-work-groce

This article is exactly why we can't stop what we're doing to prevent the TSA from continuing its harassment of freedom loving people.

mikemey

Whoops, sorry, didn't see the link was referenced in this one.

jiejie

Who stands to make a lot of money from this?

TXagogo

Even considering the current state of hysteria in the country I just cannot imagine that anything like this would ever be legal. In fact, if it wasn't August 24th I would think this was an April Fools Day joke.

mahohmei

Speaking as a geek, I'm interested (maybe that's the wrong term) in how a high-tech internal passport would technologically work.

Using current technology, GPS (or "AGPS"/cell tower triangulation) requires an active device with a power source, not to mention that wrapping your passport in aluminum foil would disable this "feature".

Another possibility is a transponder like is found in SunPass no-stop tolling. Your passport would essentially function as a SunPass, and the toll "points" would be major intersections. As you drive/walk/ride transit pass these points, your motions would be tracked. Again, a foil wrap defeats this--there are even special foil SunPass bags to block your SunPass from being charged.

Then we have the technical issues of how to enforce a must-carry passport law. Will police do random enforcement and replace their speed guns with passport detectors, stopping any pedestrian, cyclist, or vehicle that doesn't produce a transponder blip? Will passports be required to board mass transit?

Good luck enforcing it in a pedestrian-heavy area like NYC, but random no-documentation arrests would get the point across.

FWIW, internal passports would be my cue to start being really nice to my relatives who live in Europe and could help me navigate the whole employment-for-expats thing...

König

In that case, how about keeping the passport or REAL ID driving licences in RFID protective envelopes? Would that be illegal too? Or the slope becomes too slippery in this scenario?

TXagogo

I've already started seriously considering becoming an ex-pat. And it is precisely because of the current and pending loss of freedoms that have become the status quo in this country.

König

Internal passports are a thing of the past (except for several CIS countries), in a book form anyway. Now, they are called national identity cards and are not limited to totalitarian countries only So, how is a personalausweis different from an internal passport?

mahohmei

What defines an "internal passport", thus giving me my cue to expatriate, is a very blurry line. I'd say that:

"We have an internal passport when the government starts keeping track of your internal movements--and there's no practical way to opt out."

Currently, you can avoid flying and use Amtrak, Greyhound, or driving for your long-distance trips.

I last used Greyhound in 2006 and did not have to show ID. I've never used Amtrak, so I have no clue what the situation is there.

The $64M question to which nobody knows the answer is: what will be the next movement restriction? And which one will be the last straw?

I would find it nothing but ironic if I moved from the USA to the UK to avoid being tracked like it's _1984_.

König

So, an identity card becomes an internal passport only when you have internal checkpoints? Hmm...


Sorry, but not Amtrak. You have to show ID to purchase the tickets in your name only.

You know that UK has many more surveillance cameras than the USA, right? They also have face recognition software. And you know that in the UK the police has more rights than in the US?

I personally think that Germany and France with their national identity cards are freer societies than the US.