A question for the guys in the US

[el_ingeniero]

The face recognition stuff is a bit scary. An American bloke got pinged living in NZ under his dead brother's identity. US authorities "recognised" him as his wanted self years later when he was free and clear on a NZ passport.

That probably happened because foreigners are required to submit their fingerprints when they enter the US.

[jjohnson]

I worked security for a federal agency and it's amazing what is available. What's more amazing is the access to and type of technology that some private companies have. Places like Disney, the large Casinos, the NFL and other large sporting events have reportedly been using facial recognition and other screening systems for a few years now. They may not be able to stop everything but they can help eliminate a lot of problems, i.e. sexual predators and the like for Disney.

The private companies also have the advantage that they can and do profile. Federal officers and anyone employed by federal/state/local government are not allowed to use this "tool". I won't say profiling can't be abused and misused and that training to do it properly is expensive but it can be proven that it's effective. Casinos use it all the time to to find people who may be cheating or counting cards. Isreal has proven that it is extremely effective in protecting their planes; everyone is given training there - from the person at the ticket counter to the gate agent and everyone in between. Of course the loaded automatic weapons could help deter some people.

[el_ingeniero]

The Israeli airport security system involves direct interaction with
every passenger at the ticket counter by agents trained to elicit
fear, nervousness and/or anger from beople with bad intentions.
Same thing for casinos: they examine behaviour because card
counters come in many sizes, shapes and colors. Nothing forbids
police, whether federal, state or local, from acting on suspicious
behavior.

Profiles are based on appearances as in, "He looks like a Christian
right-wing terrorist so I'm going to give him the 3rd degree and see
what happens."

Bad guys aren't dumb: they'll keep sending people through the
system on perfectly legal errands, until they figure out what the
profiles are. Then they make the profiles wrong, really wrong.

Security as a condition of existence comes about because systems
can't be subverted to create undesirable outcomes, even if their
details are public knowledge. Just thwing technology at security
creates a false sense of security, what we call "snake oil" or
"theater".

[cheapbasslovin]

Skilled bad guys aren't dumb:

Fixed. There are plenty of dumb bad guys .

[el_ingeniero]

Skilled bad guys aren't dumb:

Fixed. There are plenty of dumb bad guys .

Assuming your enemy is incompetent is a guarantee of getting your clock cleaned.

[cheapbasslovin]

You misunderstood my meaning. It wasn't that there aren't bad guys with the patience and skill to find a chink in some armor, but that there are also plenty of bad guys that are barely smart enough to tie their shoes.

I think we've all seen stories of desperate criminals that weren't very good at their crimes.

[el_ingeniero]

You misunderstood my meaning. It wasn't that there aren't bad guys with the patience and skill to find a chink in some armor, but that there are also plenty of bad guys that are barely smart enough to tie their shoes.

I think we've all seen stories of desperate criminals that weren't very good at their crimes.

Plan for the worst, so all your surprises are pleasant.

[cheapbasslovin]

Plan for the worst, so all your surprises are pleasant.

I agree.

[jjohnson]

You misunderstood my meaning. It wasn't that there aren't bad guys with the patience and skill to find a chink in some armor, but that there are also plenty of bad guys that are barely smart enough to tie their shoes.

I think we've all seen stories of desperate criminals that weren't very good at their crimes.

Plan for the worst, so all your surprises are pleasant.

+1.

It's amazing what people think you won't see. I turned one guy around at the gate and he showed back up a few minutes later - guess he thought I might not recognize him or that I'd let him in....