Schneier on Security

* • November 25, 2007 9:25 AM

It would seem that this subject, with a little additional knowledge, is a classic example of thinking by numbers.

OK. Mike is way off beam when he says,

“I think the tin-foil-hat brigade need to realise that yes this may seem stupid, but the government has to be seen to be doing something.”

And yet, at the same time, he is inadvertently on point because the government does have to be doing something in order to lay the ground work for what they would eventually like to do.

Colossal Squid nearly hits the nail on the head,

“Surely this new bag-screening is going to create choke-points at rush-hour?
Say Terrorist 1 has a bag full of dubious electronics. He gets pulled, his bag searched and a large crowd of disgruntled commuters builds up.”

Roxanne actually hits the nail on the head too when she says,

“The goal is to get us used to the idea that the prohibition on “unreasonable searches and seizures” is outdated. They pretty clearly want to get us used to being searched any time, any where, without benefit of legal review.”

That’s exactly what they want to achieve.

Michael Alexander also hits the right note except that he uses the word terrorist instead of the word government when he says,

“Most modern terrorists organizations are actually quite intelligent, clever, and patient. They study their target [the population] like a chess master would his opponent and develop a plan while thinking several moves ahead.”

This is EXACTLY what the british government is doing. What we are observing here is a classic example of introducing a set of actions that can be modified and refined, in this case with the introduction of RFID technology, at a later point in time. All that the british government has to achieve at this point in time is to get the public used to the IDEA, the CONCEPT of being monitored. Once the idea has been justified and largely accepted by the majority of the people then it could be argued that the objective has already been achieved. Incorporating a new approach (RFID) to monitoring people at a later point in time will likely meet very little resistance because the idea of doing so has already become a common, every day occurrence and an aspect of every day life that, even if it is only ever tolerated, will nevertheless have been generally accepted. The reason RFID, possibly in conjunction with a national identity scheme, will meet so little resistance is because it will be presented as making life more easier and convenient for those travelling through the already established security check points.

I’m amazed that so many people have commented on this news item but no one has openly stated what I am stating here, because the long term objectives of the british government begin to appear so obvious with even a basic knowledge of the eventual power RFID and other such tracking technologies will afford governments. The only conundrum for government to solve is how to reach the point in time when they have achieved their ultimate objective (RFID monitoring and tracking of the population).

To all those departments and employees of the british (and other) governments who read this blog: do not forget that there are some of us plebians who are acutely aware of what you are doing and we are like the audience at a chess tournament and we watch to see you make your next move. But unlike an audience, we will not remain passive. We will be like mosquitoes and we will be an annoyance to you, even if you eventually win the war. We are not numbers, we are free men! In our minds we are free and will remain free until the day you can induce a total and absolute mind control, we are free!