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Comment by mindslight | Hacker News Reader

Sounds like the all too common dynamic of centralized top-down government/corporate "security" mandates destroying distributed real security. See also TSA making me splay my laptops out into a bunch of plastic bins while showing everyone where and how I was wearing a money belt. (I haven't flown for quite some time, I'm sure it's much worse now)

There's a highly problematic underlying dynamic where 364 days out of the year, when you talk about the dangers of centralized control and proprietary software, you get flat out ignored as being overly paranoid and even weird (don't you know that "normal" people have zero ability or agency when it comes to anything involving computers?!). Then something like this happens and we get a day or two to say "I told you so". After which the managerial class goes right back to pushing ever-more centralized control. Gotta check off those bullet point action items.

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They fixed that. Now you can fly without taking your laptop out, or taking your shoes and belt off. You just have to give them fingerprints, a facial scan and an in-person interview. They give you a little card. It's nifty.

And the most important part: pay them an annual subscription fee.

Sincerely,

PreCheck Premium with Clear Plus Extra customer

there's nothing socially repressive about having airline travel segregated into classes of passengers at all, nope, this is completely normal /s

I go through the regular TSA line out of solidarity and protest. Fuck the security theater.

My response was intended as sarcasm. But eventually, I don't think it will be a two-tiered system. You simply won't be allowed to fly without what is currently required for precheck.

And fwiw, I don't think the strong argument against precheck has to do with social class... it's not terribly expensive, and anyone can do it. It's just a further invasion of privacy.

Precheck is super cheap, it's like less than $100 once per 5 years. Yes, it is an invasion of privacy, but I suspect the government already has all that data anyway many times over.

Totally with you. Pre-check is an ugly band-aid on a flawed system.

> showing everyone where and how I was wearing a money belt

I only fly once every couple years, but I really hated emptying my pockets into those bins. The last time I went through, the agent suggested I put everything in my computer bag. That worked a lot better.

That's what I usually do, except when they ask you to take out all your devices and put them in bins individually.

Last time I flew, in sweden, the guy was angry at me for having to do his job so he slipped my passport away from the tray, so that I'd lose it. Lucky for me I saw him doing that.

I see this was downvoted by some swede who doesn't think this stuff can happen in sweden.

It can. It doesn't happen to you because you're white, blonde, and can pass through a scanner without triggering it.

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