Ross Anderson
Professor of security engineering, University of Cambridge Computer Laboratory; researcher in the economics and psychology of information security
Modern societies waste billions on protective measures whose real aim is to reassure rather than to reduce risk. Those of us who work in security engineering refer to this as “security theater,” and there are examples all around us. We’re searched going into buildings that no terrorist would attack. Social-network operators create the pretense of a small intimate group of “friends,” in order to inveigle users into disclosing personal information that can be sold to advertisers. The users get not privacy but privacy theater. Environmental policy is a third example: Cutting carbon emissions would cost lots of money and votes, so governments go for gesture policies that are highly visible though their effect is negligible. Specialists know that most of the actions that governments claim will protect the security of the planet are just theater.
Theater thrives on uncertainty. Wherever risks are hard to measure or their consequences hard to predict, appearance can be easier to manage than reality. Reducing uncertainty and exposing gaps between appearance and reality are among the main missions of science.
Our traditional approach was the painstaking accumulation of knowledge that enables people to understand risks, options, and consequences. But theater is a deliberate construct rather than an accidental side effect of ignorance, so perhaps we need to become more sophisticated about theatrical mechanisms too. Science communicators need to become adept at disrupting the show, illuminating the dark corners of the stage, and making the masks visible for what they are.