Showing/checking ID to travel doesn’t make anyone safer, and it makes a lot of people less safe.
Presumably you can use hand gel, and take the actions serially.
And the whole thing is optional.
For now. Just like how going through the original "nude-o-scopes" was technically "optional" but TSA employees (I refuse to call them "officers") would give you no end of shit and pointlessly delay anyone who requested an opt-out.
It increases the likelihood of your info getting leaked.
The overall risk seems like it's probably falling on the beneficial side as discouraging people with bad intentions from flying likely has a negligibly positive effect on risk.
Not everybody. Lots of us go to great lengths to preserve our privacy when engaging in commercial transactions. You can pay cash, use a cover name, only have things shipped to your postbox/office, or only engage with vendors who have adequate security and privacy practices.
You can't fly without engaging with the TSA. They're the only game in town.
Additionally, many people in society are especially vulnerable, such as labor or political organizers, investigative journalists, and public officials. Having their home addresses leaked, or their family members' home addresses leaked, poses a direct threat to life and safety.
You can opt out of data brokers, or spyware smartphone apps, or use a cover name when you order a delivery sandwich or pizza to the building you sleep in. You can't use a cover name or opt out of the TSA.
If you have enough money you simply fly private. His is one of many reasons why the TSA continues to have problems - senior politicians and wealthy people barely need to deal with them.
In some ways it’s like HOV lanes in DC that have rates up to $80 for a single ride. The people most likely to be angered by traffic and to actually have the power to force changes to be made get to skip the traffic.
See also any legal issue that can be solved by paying for a good lawyer and a high extra price for “expedited” government service (anything from immigration to getting a passport).
https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2013/09/excess_automo...
I think you put yourself in more danger when you hand over your ID at every bar, liquor store, hotel [...] you go to. These people are local, build a relationship with you, aren't accountable like a government worker/contractor, and can easily get to your home.
If you live in America, the likelyhood of your personal info getting leaked in the past 5 years has reached 100%.
Adding it to yet another dataset does not meaningfully move the needle anymore. Assume your personal information has already been pwned, and carry on with your life.
Your private life is nobody's business but your own.
Additionally, demanding ID to board a flight allows them to check against a "no fly list", an arbitrary designation they've created with no presumption of innocence and no burden of proof to be added, resulting in your effective inability to efficiently travel, with no legal recourse to regain this ability if you are placed on this list. Note that being added to the no fly list does not require a criminal conviction or even a basic legal standard like probable cause.
Imagine if you could be added to a "no drive list" without ever being accused of a crime or violation, and no way to ever get off.