Ever question the law that requires you to show ID at the airport? John Gilmore did.

I've started to pay more attention to privacy items. For one, my wife's identity was stolen a few years ago, and the thieves took over $50,000, plus opened driver's licenses and passports in her name throughout the Northeast. Second, I've blithely gone through life showing ID without thinking about it until I've heard some intellectual arguments in the past couple years about privacy rights in the US. So, this story struck me as an interesting take on the government requiring ID to board an airplane when no law exists to have a national ID. From The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

John Gilmore's splendid isolation began July 4, 2002, when, with defiance aforethought, he strolled to the Southwest Airlines counter at Oakland Airport and presented his ticket.

The gate agent asked for his ID.

Gilmore asked her why.

It is the law, she said.

Gilmore asked to see the law.

Nobody could produce a copy. To date, nobody has. The regulation that mandates ID at airports is "Sensitive Security Information." The law, as it turns out, is unavailable for inspection.

Tag: Privacy