[HN Gopher] ACLU sues Homeland Security over airport face recogn...
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ACLU sues Homeland Security over airport face recognition program
secrecy
Author : ajaviaad
Score : 356 points
Date : 2020-03-12 16:22 UTC (6 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (techcrunch.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (techcrunch.com)
| proverbialbunny wrote:
| Why is the US becoming more of a police state, and how can we
| stop this?
| chente wrote:
| Why? 9/11 and the Patriot Act. How? Be mad and let your elected
| officials know.
| ra7 wrote:
| No provisions for non-US citizens to opt out. Can't say I'm
| surprised.
| ta0681059 wrote:
| That's worthwhile and by design. It's in the interests of
| American citizens to heavily scrutinize visiting foreigners and
| those who pass through our borders.
| booboolayla wrote:
| If there's a way to undermine the country through zealous
| interpretation of the law, better be sure ACLU will be at the
| frontlines. Terrorists need rights? ACLU can help. Border
| security too tight, caravans need to cross illegally? ACLU to the
| rescue.
| dahart wrote:
| > The ACLU said that its recent Freedom of Information Act
| request to better understand the system has been ignored. Now
| it's suing to ask a judge to turn over the documents.
|
| I'm not certain, but it seems like the government ignoring FOIA
| requests has been an ongoing problem for years. I'm reading
| FOIA.gov right now, and don't see anything yet, but are there any
| explicit deadlines for a reply or automatic penalties for
| dropping requests on the floor instead of replying? Are there
| good reasons why some requests should be ignored, as opposed to,
| say, citing an exemption?
| JadeNB wrote:
| > I'm reading FOIA.gov right now, and don't see anything yet,
| but are there any explicit deadlines for a reply or automatic
| penalties for dropping requests on the floor instead of
| replying?
|
| Technically, 20 days, but that's a farcical joke.
|
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_Information_Act_(Un...
| Fnoord wrote:
| Mirror: https://archive.is/Ka7zO
| emptybits wrote:
| FWIW, for non-Americans (like myself) ... you apparently cannot
| opt out of this photo/face initiative. TSA/airport full-body
| scanners are still opt-out for all.
| jjgreen wrote:
| Don't visit the US. I've not been since they started
| fingerprinting us _Untermensch_
| ericmay wrote:
| Here are some questions I have:
|
| 1. How do I actually opt-out?
|
| 2. If I opt out, does this affect Global Entry or TSA Precheck?
|
| 3. Does opt-out have any bearing on renewal of Global Entry or
| TSA Precheck?
| mLuby wrote:
| Are there people who are both have Global Entry/Precheck and
| are against govt facial recognition?
|
| I'm curious how those two get reconciled.
| headcanon wrote:
| The difference is that Precheck is a voluntary, opt-in
| program - you give up personal information in exchange for
| expedient security check. Big difference from doing it for
| everybody indiscriminately.
| hhs wrote:
| It looks like a person has to speak to an airline employee to
| opt out, that is, when they're at the facial scanning system.
| This article may be useful for your questions:
| https://techcrunch.com/2019/05/13/americans-opt-out-facial-r...
| ericmay wrote:
| Oh ok I see. I thought it was a program you could opt-out of
| automatically versus having to do it each time you might get
| your picture taken.
|
| Thank you!
| Stanleyc23 wrote:
| is there a place to check which airports and which airlines have
| implemented this? I traveled over the holidays and didn't even
| notice the face scanning.
| tombert wrote:
| Wow, I actually didn't even know you could opt out of this. Delta
| really should have made that more clear, but I suppose that's
| less conducive towards a police state.
| Vinnl wrote:
| For others looking for info on the opt-out: only US citizens
| can do so, apparently.
| afturner wrote:
| You can only opt out if you're belligerent and willing to waste
| your time. On a trip back from Spain, flying in to Dulles, the
| agent immediately took my picture, even though I specifically
| said I did not want to. The agent said I had no choice, even
| though I knew this was false. I was then escorted to a
| supervisor who questioned me for ~20-30 minutes. He said that
| if I had nothing to hide, I shouldn't need to worry. I argued
| for as long as I could, but I had a connecting flight and
| needed to leave.. so I just gave up.
| monksy wrote:
| A few things:
|
| 1. Escalate this to your senator
|
| 2. Inform the ACLU/EFF about this.. you may have some
| leverage here
|
| 3. File a DOT complaint and a complaint on the Spanish side
| (you may have EU rights if it was done on Spanish soil)
| https://www.transportation.gov/airconsumer/file-consumer-
| com...
|
| EU
|
| https://ec.europa.eu/transport/sites/transport/files/themes/.
| ..
|
| https://edps.europa.eu/data-protection/data-protection_en
|
| The only reason they did that to you is they knew they could
| get away with it. They intentionally griefed you because they
| knew you were running out of time.
| taywrobel wrote:
| I've opted out 3 times so far, without incident. Twice in LA,
| once in Seattle. While heading to the door to board I didn't
| look at the scanner and told the gate agent that I'd like to
| opt out. They said okay, I got on the plane, and that was it.
| Not even an alternative screen.
|
| Not to say that your experience is invalid, but it's not
| universal. Tho I am fundamentally against the technology in
| the first place, hence the opt out.
| afturner wrote:
| I'm glad to hear that. I didn't have the best flight and
| was really happy to be home.. so it definitely stuck with
| me when that happened. Also.. is it possible that mine was
| a different thing? The agent just held up a random webcam,
| it wasn't on a "legit" scanner.
| toomuchtodo wrote:
| If you're against the technology, don't waste your time
| opting out (said as someone who spent way more effort over
| years of opting out of millimeter wave backscatter scans on
| principle). Support the ACLU, call, write, and meet with
| your representatives, do things that matter. Opting out
| simply causes you pain without any benefit.
|
| Tools are never the problem; it's their implementation,
| use, oversight, and governance. Seek change at the
| appropriate layer.
|
| Disclaimer: I'd embrace any auth system that streamlines my
| travel process (facial recognition at TSA checkpoint and
| the airline gate), but also believe one should be able to
| opt out and downgrade to traditional documents if desired.
| jshevek wrote:
| > _If you 're against the technology, don't waste your
| time opting out_
|
| I'm not saying it's worth any particular persons time to
| do so, but opting out does send a kind of signal. The
| more people opt out, the better, in addition to the steps
| you mentioned.
| toomuchtodo wrote:
| Nowhere near enough people opt out for it to matter, nor
| will they, hence my comment's position.
| Zigurd wrote:
| Hopefully not being a tool about it, but mmwave and
| backscatter are different imaging technologies.
| Backscatter imaging is an x-ray technology, which, while
| very very low energy, uses ionizing radiation. Mmwave is
| not ionizing radiation.
| toomuchtodo wrote:
| I lumped them together on purpose (xray was previously
| used and was eventually repurposed for prisons by TSA,
| now millimeter wave is exclusively used by TSA), but your
| point and context is important and taken.
| monksy wrote:
| Continue to opt-out. It annoys the TSA. That's a good
| thing. I do it if I'm "required" to go through the body
| scanner.
| mindslight wrote:
| It's also a good way to put totalitarianism on display
| out in the open, rather than letting it lurk quietly.
| It's amazing how nobody wants to make eye contact with
| you as you're being groped and fondled.
| jshevek wrote:
| Thank you for doing your part. Every time you opt out,
| people may notice. The more you opt out, the more you may
| inspire others to do so. The parent's argument is a self
| fulfilling prophecy.
| [deleted]
| ngneer wrote:
| You just made their list.
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