Hey Baby, What's Your Number?

Manifesto

I wonder where I fit in in this little information gathering technique:

Every airline passenger entering the United States from next week will be secretly assigned a computer-generated terror threat score, based on information as diverse as their car number-plate and the meal ordered on a flight.

The rating — which will be used to subject people to extra security checks or even arrest — cannot be seen or challenged and will be held on file for 40 years.

The scores, which can be shared with state and local police, foreign governments, courts and potential government employers, are assigned to people after computers assess factors including their travel records, where they are from, how they paid for their tickets, their car records, their seating preference, past one-way travel and what meal they ordered.

I guess I won't order the halal meal next time I fly one way, buying my ticket at the last minute, and paying, of course, in cash. But seriously, I wonder what my business trip to Spain, for three days, with a ticket bought at the last minute, did to my score. Oh wait, I'll never know because it is a secret file, that can't be disputed. Excellent. Due process be damned.

America: where everybody's a suspect!