Nosey Online

The hilarity of it all.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said Tuesday that Americans need to ease their concerns about turning over personal information to the government — especially if they want to fly safe from terrorism.

Chertoff said there is too much worry over a plan by the Transportation Security Administration to collect passengers' full names and birth dates before they board.

"The average American gives information up to get a CVS (drugstore discount) card that is far more in-depth than TSA's going to be looking at," Chertoff told reporters and editors at USA TODAY's headquarters in McLean, Va. "But I actually make that case that giving up a little bit more information protects privacy."

Uh, no. First off, I can choose not to sign up for a CVS card. Given the fact that the federal goverment has shown reckless abandon for the way major companies handle private data, who is he to speak on such authority? Names can be faked, as can IDs. Giving up more personal data will not make flying any safer. Besides, I feel fine flying right now. Only paranoid Fox News Watchers worry about the Arab man in seat 2C. But alas.

"Would you rather give up your address and date of birth to a secure database and not be pulled aside and questioned," he said, "or would you rather not give it up and have an increased likelihood that you're going to be called out of line and someone's going to do a secondary search of your bag and they're going to ask you a lot of personal questions in the full view of everybody else?"

Chertoff vowed to implement Secure Flight, a plan by the federal government to screen out potential terrorists by scrutinizing the backgrounds of passengers. Under the plan, passengers will be encouraged — but not required — to give their full names and birth dates when reserving a seat. The TSA hoped to begin testing Secure Flight this month but that timetable is in doubt.

The current system, in place since before the 9/11 attacks, requires airlines to do the background checks. Passengers must give only their last name and first initial to book a flight.

American Civil Liberties Union legislative counsel Tim Sparapani said collecting more information from passengers is a waste of time and money.

"The public does not get any advanced security by giving up more information," Sparapani said. Would-be hijackers can easily foil background checks, he said, by either keeping a clean criminal record or by stealing someone's identity. Money would be better spent on machines that detect plastic explosives on passengers or in bags, he said.

Exactly. Just scan the bags before they're put into the cargo hold. Make sure the TSA screeners are properly trained. No amount of personal data will make up for that. These guys are not going to be satisfied until the goverment has a detailed dossier on every citizen. So much for the land of the free and the home of the brave. This kind of shit lets the terrorists win. Why can't they figure that out?