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Comment by BadHumans | Hacker News Reader

I have no idea and don't know the difference but I could say the same thing of the camera they used to take my passport photo or my state ID.

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That’s true, but those are also different agencies, so at a minimum you’re spreading the data (and risk surface). My concerns are generally (though not entirely) around data breaches rather than the collector. And sadly we have ample evidence that federal agencies aren’t always great at securing PII.

But more to the point the reason for doing it is there, for better or worse — want a passport? Have a picture taken. In this case I am (at least for now) comparing opting out or not. You can still take your flight without them taking that additional picture. That of course may not stay true.

I'm certainty not advocating for more of this security theater but the genuine and imaginary concerns meld together when we talk about security so I'm more trying to ascertain what's the realistic risk here. I agree that government is awful at storing PII and it is only a matter of time before biometrics get leaked assuming they haven't already.

That’s a reasonable point. And I’ll admit I’m expressing more of an opinion on privacy in general. I don’t know what the real risk is, immediately or over time and it would vary to an extent by individual. I suspect, again uninformed, it’s fairly small for most people.

It’s still possible to take one’s own passport photos with a plain old digital camera.

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/how-app...

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