Why Should You Show Your ID to Get On a Plane?

This article from Wired discusses the lonely crusade of one eccentric millionaire to fight for freedom in travel. Specifically, the founder of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is challenging the requirement to show ID before boarding a typical commercial flight. Most interestingly, the government was real shady about even admitting that a federal law exists that requires identification to be shown.

On Thursday, [John] Gilmore will argue that the government's secret identification rules -- no federal law compels travelers to show ID -- and no-fly list infringe on his First Amendment rights, but don't make the country safer.

In addition, government lawyers long denied the existence of the rule -- which predates the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks -- even though there are signs in airports cautioning passengers that they are required to show identification.

The government recently switched tactics, acknowledging the rule exists but arguing that the identification requirement is a law-enforcement technique.

So far, the government has refused to show Gilmore the order compelling airlines to ask for identification, saying that the rule is "sensitive security information," a security designation that was greatly expanded by Congress in 2002, allowing the Transportation Security Administration wide latitude to withhold information from the public.