Tips for Terrorists

Note to terrorists looking to slink by security screeners undetected: Pack a Ron Kessler book. Wired explains:

International travelers concerned about being labeled a terrorist or drug runner by secret Homeland Security algorithms may want to be careful what books they read on the plane. Newly revealed records show the government is storing such information for years.

Privacy advocates obtained database records showing that the government routinely records the race of people pulled aside for extra screening as they enter the country, along with cursory answers given to U.S. border inspectors about their purpose in traveling. In one case, the records note Electronic Frontier Foundation co-founder John Gilmore's choice of reading material, and worry over the number of small flashlights he'd packed for the trip.

Whole article here.

In 2005, Bob Poole and Jim Harper debated the balance between privacy and safety in a post-9/11 aviation industry.

Update: I neglected to mention that EFF's John Gilmore was reason's August 2003 coverboy. Brian Doherty's story on Gilmore v. Ashcroft here.