[extropy-chat] Transparency vs. terrorism

[Samantha Atkins]

On Aug 6, 2005, at 6:33 PM, Paul wrote:

> On 8/6/05, Dan Clemmensen <dgc at cox.net> wrote:
> As a society we in the US have shown a distressing tendency to give up
> freedoms to counter terrorists.As long as we are going in this  
> direction
> anyway, why not go a bit further. If we give up the (non-existent)  
> right
> to privacy in public, we can make it much harder on terrorists.
>

What exactly do you mean by non-existent?  I can agree there is no  
particular right not to be surveilled in public by authorities today  
or watched by the people around you.  At least I don't know of any  
relevant case law claiming such a right.  There are limits on what  
may be recorded and by whom in what circumstances but I suspect those  
to fall as the technology improves, becomes ubiquitous and since the  
technology has many other highly beneficial usages. However, in  
practice, the government does not today track all of the movements  
and activities of all its citizens.  Doing so is becoming  
technologically possible.  But is it desirable?  What kind of  
safeguards must be put in to make such a practice less of a real  
danger to everyone except those currently favored by those in power?   
How would/should the information be guarded and limited in use?  Who  
would have access and for what purposes?

Without a very high level of respect for personal freedom, diversity  
and protection of dissent I fear mass public data collection of this  
kind although I am generally very much for most of what leads to it  
and for the other uses of the technology.

- samantha
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