> “Given that the human face recognition performed by the check-in agents did not keep the hijackers out, there is no reason to think that computer face recognition would help.”

Even though I agree with the premise of the essay, this is absurdly false today. Computers are really good at this type of thing now, scarily so.

Everytime through TSA they cannot match me to my ID with computer photo thing. After three/four tries they call someone over, who looks at my ID, my face and then says "seems OK". I don't think computers are good at it.

Agreed. In fact, the ubiquity and effectiveness of surveillance technology today makes Stallman's "massive surveillance" argument seem stale.

These days, government surveillance is just a drop in the bucket. Surveillance by private companies and private citizens dwarfs it.