Greg's Corner

New Homeland Security ban on devices on planes. Security or security theatre?

Yesterday, The Department of Homeland Security instituted a new ban on electronic devices being carried aboard airlines. However, the new ban only covers flights from certain countries going into certain US airports. The countries on the new ban list are Jordan, Egypt, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Morocco, Qatar, and the UAE.

Instead of being able to take electronics devices onto their flight, travelers from these countries will now have to check anything larger than a cell phone into their baggage. These devices include laptops, tablets, portable video game systems, and the like.

Homeland Security insists that this ban is in response to intelligence that they have received indicating a possible threat from these countries. One can’t help but notice that many of these countries listed for the new device restriction are some of the same countries that were on the Trump Administration’s proposed travel ban. And why laptops and tablets and not cell phones? A cell phone could pose just as much as a threat as any of these larger devices. Rather than checking for possible explosives in these devices it seems more like that Homeland Security is more interested in the information contained in these devices and could obtain that information more easily if they’re in the traveler’s checked baggage.

Another question that needs to be asked is how long will it be before this restriction is issued nationwide and we all have to check our devices? This new restriction seems intended to put fear into the American people of the foreign countries and allow Homeland Security easier access into our personal lives. While references to 1984 are thrown around haphazardly these days, this new restriction really does seem Orwellian in scope.