January 27, 2011 9:13AM 

# And Good Riddance… 

By [Jim Harper](https://www.cato.org/people/jim-harper) 

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The Department of Homeland Security is [scrapping the color-coded terror alert system](http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/dept-homeland-security-decides-retire-color-code-threat/story?id=12770409). The color-code system meant to serve as a way of keeping the public informed, but because it signaled some ambiguous sense of “threat” without providing a scintilla of information the public could use, it merely kept Americans ignorant and addled.

Scrapping the color-coded threat system is only the beginning. The next step is to begin informing the public fully about threats and risks known to the U.S. government. We’re adults. We can handle it. In fact, [we can help](https://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=12599).

##### Related Tags 

[Defense and Foreign Policy](https://www.cato.org/defense-foreign-policy), [Technology and Privacy](https://www.cato.org/technology-privacy) 

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