Society's false sense of security
Shoes, jacket, belt, and jewelry in the plastic bin.
Remove your laptop and all large electronics from your bag.
Please step up to the metal detector.
Every student has heard tales about the old days.
Time when it was people could to arrive at the airport 20 minutes before a flight or meet loved ones at the gate right as they got off the plane.
But in the post 9/11 world, airports are guarded by TSA and security has increased significantly.
The September 11 attacks sparked the creation of the Travel Security Administration (TSA), an agency committed to “ensuring the freedom of movement for people and commerce,” according to the TSA website.
However, many believe that TSA doesn’t provide security but rather the illusion of it: security theater.
According to Bruce Schneier, a cryptographer, computer security and privacy specialist, “Security theater refers to security measures that make people feel more secure without doing anything to actually improve their security.”
So while the long security lines, screenings, and random pat downs at airports promote the facade of safety, reports show that TSA isn’t always able to intercept threats. In 2015, the Department of Homeland Security conducted a series of tests across the nation in which “red teams” attempted to smuggle banned items through security.
TSA failed 67 of the 70 tests. This would be like the terrorists getting an A with that 95 percent.
Though the term was originally coined to describe TSA protocols, security theater is more widespread than just airport security.
For example, according to Schneier, checking ID badges hasn’t proven to increase safety in any way. However, the image of burly security officers checking ID cards gives the impression of safety.
“A good example of security theater is bag checkers at baseball games, concerts, or amusement parks. They don’t really check what’s in your bag. Sometimes they just glance in and assume that it’s clear, even though you could have hidden a knife or something dangerous at the bottom,” said junior Sammi Owyang.
Security is something done to promote safety. Nonetheless, for some, security is also a feeling, and the perception of security can be more powerful than security itself. Additionally, security theater can serve as a deterrent; those intending harm are scared off by the fake measures put in place.
“The idea of tricking ourselves on safety is both genius and stupid. The idea of security in our heads allows us to do more; it calms the masses. We aren’t frozen with fear and can keep functioning as a society. At the same time it makes us extremely vulnerable and easily manipulated,” said junior Edison Bai.
To some, security theater exemplifies a societal weakness and reflects poorly upon human nature and modern culture.
Owyang said, “Security theater is an example of how society covers up problems rather than directly addressing or fixing them. We trick ourselves into feeling safe and blindly believe that everything is alright.”
In the grand scheme of things, security theater provides small benefits for its economic costs. The President’s 2017 Fiscal Year budget gives $7.6 billion to TSA, according to the TSA budget.
Schneier writes in an essay “Beyond Security Theater” that “If we spend billions defending our rail systems, and the terrorists bomb a shopping mall instead, we’ve wasted our money. If we concentrate airport security on screening shoes and confiscating liquid, and the terrorists hide explosives in their brassiers and use solids, we’ve wasted our money.”
Not only do people perceive that their money is being misspent, but also their time. According to sophomore Nicole Turk, her father was once detained by airport security for three hours so that they performed a random check of him and Nicole’s elderly grandmother, delaying the entire flight.
Despite security theater’s apparent flaws, many believe that it will continue to be treated as real security.
Bai said, “We are deceiving ourselves, wasting time and resources to pull the wool over our own eyes. However, the fact remains that security theater is probably here to stay. People are good at denial, if we can’t actually be safe, then we will try our hardest to convince ourselves that we are.”
Remove your laptop and all large electronics from your bag.
Please step up to the metal detector.
Every student has heard tales about the old days.
Time when it was people could to arrive at the airport 20 minutes before a flight or meet loved ones at the gate right as they got off the plane.
But in the post 9/11 world, airports are guarded by TSA and security has increased significantly.
The September 11 attacks sparked the creation of the Travel Security Administration (TSA), an agency committed to “ensuring the freedom of movement for people and commerce,” according to the TSA website.
However, many believe that TSA doesn’t provide security but rather the illusion of it: security theater.
According to Bruce Schneier, a cryptographer, computer security and privacy specialist, “Security theater refers to security measures that make people feel more secure without doing anything to actually improve their security.”
So while the long security lines, screenings, and random pat downs at airports promote the facade of safety, reports show that TSA isn’t always able to intercept threats. In 2015, the Department of Homeland Security conducted a series of tests across the nation in which “red teams” attempted to smuggle banned items through security.
TSA failed 67 of the 70 tests. This would be like the terrorists getting an A with that 95 percent.
Though the term was originally coined to describe TSA protocols, security theater is more widespread than just airport security.
For example, according to Schneier, checking ID badges hasn’t proven to increase safety in any way. However, the image of burly security officers checking ID cards gives the impression of safety.
“A good example of security theater is bag checkers at baseball games, concerts, or amusement parks. They don’t really check what’s in your bag. Sometimes they just glance in and assume that it’s clear, even though you could have hidden a knife or something dangerous at the bottom,” said junior Sammi Owyang.
Security is something done to promote safety. Nonetheless, for some, security is also a feeling, and the perception of security can be more powerful than security itself. Additionally, security theater can serve as a deterrent; those intending harm are scared off by the fake measures put in place.
“The idea of tricking ourselves on safety is both genius and stupid. The idea of security in our heads allows us to do more; it calms the masses. We aren’t frozen with fear and can keep functioning as a society. At the same time it makes us extremely vulnerable and easily manipulated,” said junior Edison Bai.
To some, security theater exemplifies a societal weakness and reflects poorly upon human nature and modern culture.
Owyang said, “Security theater is an example of how society covers up problems rather than directly addressing or fixing them. We trick ourselves into feeling safe and blindly believe that everything is alright.”
In the grand scheme of things, security theater provides small benefits for its economic costs. The President’s 2017 Fiscal Year budget gives $7.6 billion to TSA, according to the TSA budget.
Schneier writes in an essay “Beyond Security Theater” that “If we spend billions defending our rail systems, and the terrorists bomb a shopping mall instead, we’ve wasted our money. If we concentrate airport security on screening shoes and confiscating liquid, and the terrorists hide explosives in their brassiers and use solids, we’ve wasted our money.”
Not only do people perceive that their money is being misspent, but also their time. According to sophomore Nicole Turk, her father was once detained by airport security for three hours so that they performed a random check of him and Nicole’s elderly grandmother, delaying the entire flight.
Despite security theater’s apparent flaws, many believe that it will continue to be treated as real security.
Bai said, “We are deceiving ourselves, wasting time and resources to pull the wool over our own eyes. However, the fact remains that security theater is probably here to stay. People are good at denial, if we can’t actually be safe, then we will try our hardest to convince ourselves that we are.”