The Legacy of 9/11: The TSA Knows Everything About You
Early on Monday morning I had the most terrifying experience with the federal government. I was at the Philadelphia airport, about to board a plane for Nashville when I realized that I couldn’t find my driver’s license. When I got to the front of the line, I told this to the TSA worker, who pulled me aside and called his supervisor. His supervisor was a friendly, middle-aged woman with a pink cell phone who fixed a leveling stare on me. “You’re absolutely sure you don’t have any photo ID? Or even a Social Security card?”
I didn’t and said as much.
“O.K.,” she replied. “Because once I make this call, there’s no going back.”
“Who are you calling?”
“The federal government.”
Duh duh duuuuuuh….
She dialed the number and gave the person on the other end my name and home address here in Nashville. She also gave a five digit security code. Within thirty seconds, she began quizzing me about my life. When did I sign my lease? Who do I live with? What kind of car do I drive? I answered each question and she relayed it into the phone, nodding each time.
I know the government has all this information. That doesn’t surprise me at all. What scares the bejeezus out of me is that they have it in one place, at their fingertips, and all it takes is a phone call for someone to get it.
This is part of 9/11’s legacy.
Our government has gathered personal information about us and warehoused it in an easy to find directory that federal employees can access. This may have been inevitable anyway, given the speed of information in a global, digital age, but 9/11 created the political and legislative will to make it happen in a very short time. The government created these databases in response to our fear of terrorism. We have given up a measure of privacy for the kind of security and scrutiny that comes from a government that knows the most intimate aspects of your life.
Feel any safer?
At least they let me on the airplane.
Comments
First, how did you get TO Philly without ID, drive?
Second, when I recently inquired about how to sign up for Medicare, a phone rep asked would I rather drive an hour for an interview at an office or would I rather sign up on the phone. After considering the options for a milisecond or so, I responded, "phone" and was transferred.
I first asked the next rep what sort of documents I would need to submit and was told she wouldn't know until we had completed our telephone interview. Over the next half hour she asked questions only someone with a pretty extensive file would know to answer. In the end she said my answers had satisfied her I was who I claimed to be and no documents would be required.
She evidently had my life story at her fingertips.
Posted 09/12/2008 at 11:50:54 AMActually, I lost my license while in Philly. A kind stranger mailed it to me and it is now safely in my pocket.
I'm not sure what to make of your Medicare story though. Are you equating someone who works in health administration with an armed security guard at an airport?
Posted 09/12/2008 at 01:52:58 PMYou wrote that the government, "...knows the most intimate aspects of your life." I wrote that a government employee seemed to have access to a rather extensive database on me.
Is there really something here you don't understand? And, how do you know the person I spoke with was not armed and/or prepared to dispatch a SWAT team after me?
Posted 09/12/2008 at 02:07:43 PM