and you thought the body scanners were bad...

"Security at Pearson more like harassment, expert says"

so this purported 'guru' of airport security doesn't like the way pearson is being run. apparently he also helped design the security system at the highly successful ben gurion airport in tel aviv. anyway, he's got all these marvelous suggestions on how to make toronto's major airport a better place to fly. the airport can be more efficient using "'security circles,' layers of surveillance that screen travellers well before they reach the security gate."

ZONE 1
electronic 'gateways' with cameras and licence plate recognition, similar to 407's electronic toll system, would be used to single out stolen cars and anyone with outstanding warrants. 'sniffing technologies' would be used to search for drugs and explosives.

what about terrorists who don't steal cars or have outstanding warrants? what about normal people with warrants for things like outstanding parking tickets? what about all those cars circling the airport waiting to pick people up? what about the fact that the 407 system is not perfect and routinely misses cars entering/exiting the highway...?

ZONE 2
at airport entrances, uniformed and undercover analysts and video cameras assess the behaviour of people entering the airport. apparently, simple things like "looking nervous or sweating" makes you a terrorist...

what about people who are nervous about flying? don't like crowds? have never been to the airport before? all these things could easily have you getting an invasive cavity search in an intimidating white room.

ZONE 3
passengers are further behaviourally analyzed as they check in at automatic kiosks. fingerprinting, face and iris recognition, typing rhythm and voice intonation will be analyzed. this airport expert guy says that "99.99% of the bad people have already been caught" by this point in the process.

yeah, 99.99% of the bad people have been caught but so have 99.99% of the normal people! anyone is bound to be nervous and display abnormal behaviour knowing that they are under so much scrutiny! i get paranoid when the people i travel with are joking about bombs, etc. at the airport! i keep telling them, "you can't use those words at an airport! they are going to come for you any minute now!"

ZONE 4
a passenger's identity, boarding and baggage information are all digitally cross-checked before they get on the plane. the expert guy says that currently "there's nothing to stop a passenger from obtaining multiple boarding passes and then deciding at the last minute what flight to board."

ok, this last step sound the most beneficial for security and the least stressful for the passengers... but what about the people who are flying standby?

i'm not saying the system at pearson isn't broken, far from it actually, but i don't think a system like this is necessarily the best idea. and i'm not even suggesting anything better... sure, maybe you'll catch 99.99% of the bad guys but you'll also mistakenly hold up the same percentage of people who are no threat at all. travelling from toronto is a hassle and does take extra time but at least you're not very likely to be detained and treated like a criminal because the airport makes you nervous.