Dave: I'm in Manhattan this morning, where -- due to the Federal government's extremely vague claims of increased terrorist risk -- the police are out in force during the morning commute. They're diverting traffic from some normal commuter routes (such as the upper deck of the Queensboro Bridge) and are requiring vehicles to slow down at checkpoints along others (such as the approach to the Queens-Midtown Tunnel). We've seen such checkpoints at Denver International Airport in the past, and have observed that they appear to have little effect other than slowing traffic and inconveniencing travelers. What they could possibly expect to be able to detect, during a second's glance at a moving vehicle, is unclear. What's particularly disturbing about the measures we saw today, however, is that authorities appeared to be pulling over, and singling out for more thorough inspection, vehicles which were not equipped with New York's electronic "E-Z Pass" -- an electronic device which allows vehicle owners to be charged automatically for tolls and parking. Your Interesting People list has, in the past, featured articles describing the increasingly widespread use of E-Z Pass records to track unfaithful spouses, employees, etc. We've seen examples of this sort of invasive "mission creep" before -- in particular, in the increasingly widespread use of the Social Security number for identification purposes of all kinds. But this is something new: It appears that now, when the Federal Government declares an "orange" terror alert, an electronic tracking device has become a requirement for hassle-free travel. One can only wonder if this is the start of an era in which one is detained, harassed, or otherwise branded as a suspected terrorist if at any time one pays via anonymous cash or is unwilling to have his or her movements continually traced and recorded. --Brett Glass [Just like the lack of a frequent flyer number will get you looked at hard at airports djf] ------------------------------------- You are subscribed as eugen@leitl.org To manage your subscription, go to http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/ ----- End forwarded message ----- -- Eugen* Leitl <a href="http://leitl.org">leitl</a> ______________________________________________________________ ICBM: 48.07078, 11.61144 http://www.leitl.org 8B29F6BE: 099D 78BA 2FD3 B014 B08A 7779 75B0 2443 8B29 F6BE http://moleculardevices.org http://nanomachines.net [demime 0.97c removed an attachment of type application/pgp-signature]