Wendy’s Blog: Legal Tags: Inexplicable airport “security”:
“But if the foot-tester device is accurate (and it’ll cause more frustration than help if it’s not), then it serves as an oracle, letting good guys and bad guys alike determine whether they’re likely to be picked up. I stepped on and off several times without being questioned. A would-be shoe bomber could probably use a more sinister variation: If the machine beeps, walk away; try again later with cooler shoes; repeat until the machine stays silent. The tester makes it easier for bad guys to see the detection devices’ limit and tailor their implements of destruction just below that cutoff.”
Could we make it any easier to calibrate a payload?
I first heard about Wendy Seltzer from one of the Learned Professors I worked with last year. She runs the Chilling Effects website, a must read for anyone interested in how the law can be used to bully or intimidate — and what your rights are.
[Posted with ecto]