After the 911 attacks, airlines and public buildings adopted a flurry of "security" measures, like taking away fliers' pen-knives or requiring visitors to office buildings to be photographed or present a driver's license.

Bruce Schneier's seminal 2003 "Beyond Fear" called these measures: "Security Theater."

Schneier pointed out that these measures would be easy to circumvent, and were thus providing only the comforting appearance of security - not security itself.

https://memex.craphound.com/2003/08/21/beyond-fear-required-reading-for-ashcrofts-america/

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