British visitors to the US could be forced to hand over their mobile phones and reveal their social media passwords if they want to get in.
Once again, we have security theatre that is meaningless as far as catching the bad guys is concerned and is merely an opportunity for authoritarian control freaks to persecute the innocent traveller. I refuse to put up with such behaviour. Which is why the USA is off my list of places to go – much as I would like to visit. If they think for one precious moment that I’d hand over such sensitive information to a bunch of goons, they are mistaken.
As for the bad guys…
Leon Rodriguez, who ran the US Citizenship and Immigration Services under the last government, warned such time-consuming measures could prove pointless.
Real terrorists would simply swap their phones for one free of any incriminating evidence, he said.
Well, quite. I’d travel without one and buy a PAYG when there – or buy one here and keep it blank for travelling. Either way, it’s simple enough to circumvent. As for social media – don’t do it, so nothing to see. What I wouldn’t do is let these people have access to my phone and passwords.
However, officials believe getting suspects’ phone contacts alone could help to crack terrorist networks.
Heaven help us if this is the level of idiocy running the show.
Remember , 80% of all pharmaceuticals are consumed by americans, So one would expect this level of idiocy!
Good God man, what would they be like without the medication ?
Not one shoe bomber, not one liquids carrier, not one laptop user has ever been apprehended for being a prospective terrorist… EVER! If your plane is going to blow up it will be the Muslim baggage handlers and cleaners that will have done it, not the passengers. So what the fuck is it with this pantomime?
If you think that’s bad, you should see the back end systems.
Companies get to download a spreadsheet for import, which contains names, dob, aliases, pseudonyms.
Go to open a bank account (or 2nd order money laundering), and they check your name against a list of “known” bad guys.
“So Mr. Moyo, you’d like to open an account / take mortgage / other?”, asked the bank clerk, stroking her hipster beard beneath the counter.
“Ah. you are mistaken. My name is Jonathan, er, Smith.” replied the smooth finance minister.
“Oh. Certainly Mr. Smith. And would you like to rub my tits?”
“However, officials believe getting suspects’ phone contacts alone could help to crack terrorist networks.”
‘Officials believe’? As RAB points out, how many ‘terrorists’ have been caught like this? Zero and counting. The real terrorists know about this weak spot and will have memorised their own list of contacts. Good luck with downloading those.
That’s a rhetorical question, right?
Yup.