No ID
I’m currently in the airport, having breezed through the security checkpoint with no issues. Not remarkable, except that I am travelling with no ID whatsoever. I’ve been running a gauntlet of paperwork, back home, and forgot my driver’s license with a friend who was helping me with various filings.
On the first leg of my trip, I had a major oh-shit moment when I realized that my ID was nowhere to be found, without enough time to return home to get my it before my flight. I explained my problem to an airline agent, and she simply marked my boarding pass for additional security screening and sent me on my way. When I got to the security checkpoint, I was shunted to a separate line that bypassed the entire crowd, and then was attended to by two agents who went through my stuff a little more carefully than usual, patted me down, and swabbed all of my electronics.
Other than that, no questions or hassle. I think I ultimately arrived at my gate sooner than if I had brought my ID. On my return flight, the confused TSA employees at the security checkpoint actually just let me through the normal security check, each wanting to avoid having the other think that he didn’t know what he was doing.
My experience corroborates that of DHS committee member Jim Harper, which was written up in today’s Wired [link]. Harper was challenged by John Gilmore (who recently lost a suit over his failed attempt to fly without ID) to try make it home ID-less from D.C. As in my experience, he had no troubles.
What to make of it? Well, first of all, don’t stress if you don’t have ID when you have to fly (domestically, at least.) But what about the more troublesome conclusion, that “rabble-rousers” (the term used by Wired) such as Gilmore are overstating their case about the freedom to travel. If I had such little trouble travelling without showing ID, how are my privacy rights being violated?
Well, it’s important to note that Gilmore’s case didn’t challenge just his personal inability to travel. Moreso, it challenged the government’s unwillingness to even disclose the rules under which he was denied travel. Like me, he didn’t show ID at the security line. Unlike me, John Gilmore didn’t give a convenient excuse about why he didn’t have identification; instead, he made a point of questioning why he was required to show one to begin with. For asking, he was denied travel altogether.
The point is not the convenience of the majority. Instead, it is that we should have a fair and open system of governance, not one where secret regulations can be selectively applied by unaccountable authorities. And definitely not one where questions about these regulations are met with retaliatory punishments.
And, of course, there is the important practical point that, amongst security precautions, forcing passengers to show ID improves security nominally, if at all. The potential cost in prvacy violations is much higher. As the ID-less Jim Harper said, “Today, I’m the safest guy on the plane.”
Related Posts:
- Moyers: 9/11 and the Sport of God (October, 2005)
- Nightlife as a measure of development (July, 2006)
- Weekly Digest for November 4th (November, 2009)
- Cheap Housing (January, 2008)
- Weekly Digest for February 18th (February, 2010)
