[extropy-chat] privacy rights

[BillK]

On 5/13/06, spike wrote:
>
> I am an openness advocate because I am in some ways a special case: I have
> nothing in my past I want to hide.  (Except perhaps my ExI posts.  {8^D)
> Likewise my wife has nothing that requires privacy, but while an openness
> advocate, I do not wish to peer into other people's privacy.  I can think of
> a zillion perfectly legitimate reasons for not being open.  While I may sign
> up for openness, young Isaac may not.  My openness compromises his privacy.
> I don't yet know if he will be a privacy fanatic; he isn't born yet.
>

(Sorry to hear you've got nothing to hide, spike. You'll have to try
harder).  :)

Technology is obviously making privacy more and more difficult. The
problem is getting the balance right to stop government victimisation
and subjugation of the population.

Are you ok with the NSA trolling through every phone call in the USA?
Their computers will be scanning for keywords initially. But what if
everyone who comes to the attention of officials for a minor incident
has all their calls examined just in case there is any else to
investigate? In the UK any minor charge means you have a DNA sample
taken to see if you can be linked to any other past or future crime.

The UK is the cctv world leader.

What is happening now is that 'hoodies' have become standard wear for
teenagers / troublemakers to hide their faces from cameras. Wearing
hoods have now been banned in many shops and effectively if adults see
youngsters wearing hoods they assume they are looking for trouble.

Crime has also tended to move away from the cctv in city centres, so
that formerly quiet country villages are being forced to install cctv
to protect from increasing crime levels and to video every car that
comes into the village.

There are some hopeful signs.
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4752167.stm>

The £12m Digital Bridge television service, launched in one of
London's most deprived boroughs on Monday, pledges to "put every
member of the community in the front row of the fight against crime".
The system is being rolled out to 22,000 residents across Shoreditch
this summer who will be able to monitor 11 CCTV cameras from the
comfort of their living rooms.

In autumn, it will be extended to 70,000 households across the borough
of Hackney before extending across London and some local authorities
in the Midlands and the North West next year.
--------------------

BillK