Phil Agre answers the common argument, “… we have to give up some

civil liberties in order to secure ourselves against the danger.”

We must certainly improve our security in many areas. I have

said that myself for years. The fallacy here is in the automatic

association between security and restrictions on civil liberties.

Security can be improved in many ways, for example by rationalizing

identification systems for airport employees or training flight

attendants in martial arts, without having any effect on civil

liberties. Security can be improved in other ways, for example

by preventing identity theft or replacing Microsoft products with

well-engineered software, that greatly improve privacy. And many

proposals for improved security, such as searching passengers’

luggage properly, have a minimal effect on privacy relative to

existing practices. The “trade-off” between security and civil

liberties, therefore, is highly over-rated, and I am quite surprised

by the speed with which many defenders of freedom have given up any

effort to defend the core value of our society as a result of the

terrorist attack.