DISQUS

Technology Liberation Front: The Technology Liberation Front » Archive » ID Checks are About Control, Not Security

  • Nick Karels · 1 year ago
    It gets worse... Amtrak "requires" ID too...

    Per Amtrak's "PASSENGER IDENTIFICATION" FAQ Page:
    (http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer?pag...)
    ----------
    Random Ticket/ID Checks
    Following federal Transportation Security Administration (TSA) guidelines, we regularly conduct random ticket verification checks onboard trains to ensure that passengers are properly ticketed. Please be prepared to show valid photo identification to a member of the onboard crew upon request.
    ----------

    Worse Yet...
    Since Amtrak runs California's "Capitol Corridor" route for the State, they also require one to carry ID to ride that route. That opens up tha "slippery slope", where, the same requiremwnt could be adpoted by the Heavy-rail Caltrain SF Peninsula service, then BART, then other local transit agencies, like SF's Muni. One could eventually need an ID document to ride to bus to _apply_ for one! More absurd, would be one in the position of being "short" on documentation to get a REAL ID -- hope he doesn't have to travel to get a duplicate Birth Certificate!

    I've scoured the TSA website for the "guidelines" that Amtrak mentions, and found nothing. Considering tha fact that Capitol Corridor tickets can be bought with cash, at a vending machine, the requirement to posess photo ID to ride one of those trains could make sense only to an Authoritarian bureaucrat.

    Whoops! I'm wrong. Up in the Sierras, there's a snowball with a keen interest in this "slippery slope", as it offers him what the most expert-level ski runs up there can't. He'll shock us all, as we witness his lifelong dream of making it to Hell come true.

    Too bad that we'll all be along for the ride. ID or no ID.

    -NK
  • Wade · 1 year ago
    Half of the high school seniors in this country have a fake picture ID. They use them to buy cigarettes and beer. You can get one anywhere. If high school students can manage it, then so can terrorists. Possession of a picture ID is therefore utterly meaningless and of no security value whatsoever.
  • William · 1 year ago
    This just adds one more to the ample reasons for travelling instead to the many other countries in the world. (Just back from Morocco. Just off to Germany. Then Peru. Anywhere but US&A)
  • George Bush · 1 year ago
    Hey dont worry about it - just get an ID chip in your arm and then you can get preferential treatment at airports and train stations, leaving the suckers without to queue up [needlessly] for hours.
  • Alex · 1 year ago
    This is only "news" in the U.S. in Europe one must carry an I.D. card at all times and show it at airports to pass check-in and boarding.for international voyages you need a passport. If you travel by train to another European country you are asked to show your ticket and may be asked to show your i.d as well. failure to show the i.d. to an officer of law can get you arrested.
  • Louise Ferguson · 1 year ago
    Alex:

    It may comes as news to you, but 'Europe' is not a country. The law is not the same across the various countries that comprise 'Europe'. In fact it varies *considerably* from one country to another. Different countries, different laws. Fact.

    In my own country - the U.K. - there is *no* requirement to carry ID (yet!) in day-to-day life. There is only a requirement to carry photo ID when travelling from one country to another (e.g. when boarding an international flight; or when entering the country). AFAIK - from my own experience travelling - similar restrictions apply in the U.S.A.

    In the U.K., there is no requirement to show ID to an officer of the law, or even to give your name or address to such an officer, even if you are being searched under suspicion of having committing an offence.

    I'm sure showing your valid train ticket to the train company officials is not an uncommon situation in the U.S.A. (At least, that has been my experience when travelling in various parts of the U.S.A.). They generally want some kind of assurance that you have paid your fare, and tickets are the vehicle for that assurance.
  • serhat · 1 year ago
    In my own country - the U.K. - there is *no* requirement to carry ID (yet!) in day-to-day life. There is only a requirement to carry photo ID when travelling from one country to another (e.g. when boarding an international flight; or when entering the country). AFAIK - from my own experience travelling - similar restrictions apply in the U.S.A.
  • saillabs · 1 year ago
    getting on the plane, everyday, being even more difficult every other day.I don't really want to fly if i don't have to. Airports are already busy and very complicated that security checks makes it even harder...
  • oyun download · 1 year ago
    Half of the high school seniors in this country have a fake picture ID.
  • oyun download · 1 year ago
    Possession of a picture ID is therefore utterly meaningless and of no security value whatsoever.
  • Oyun indir · 1 year ago
    This is only “news” in the U.S. in Europe one must carry an I.D.
  • JJ · 1 year ago
    It is not mandatory to carry an ID in Sweden or Finland either. Perhaps more like in southern European countries, such as Italy (although I have not checked).
  • Han Savaşları · 1 year ago
    AFAIK - from my own experience travelling - similar restrictions apply in the U.S.A.
  • Film download · 1 year ago
    Hey dont worry about it - just get an ID chip in your arm and then you can get preferential treatment at airports and train stations, leaving the suckers without to queue up [needlessly] for hours.
  • Oyun · 1 year ago
    In the U.K., there is no requirement to show ID to an officer of the law, or even to give your name or address to such an officer, even if you are being searched under suspicion of having committing an offence.
  • richardaroberts776 · 2 months ago
    I can remember when flight attendants were courteous to a fault. Now they are surly. But don’t become enraged to the point of amtrak promotion code anarchy: If you so much as talk back to them, they can have you arrested as a security threat.
  • sheartech · 2 months ago
    The primary use of an Id is for identification purposes, well it will serve as your proof for your identity in some establishment wherein you might need it