[ExI] pussy riot case

[Stefano Vaj]

On 22 August 2012 00:13, Kelly Anderson <kellycoinguy at gmail.com> wrote:

> But if privacy is guaranteed to individuals, then
> why not to some extent extend the same privilege to corporations and
> to governments.
>

This is a matter of debate between Eugen and me.

While I am decidedly in favour of allowing, promoting, fighting prohibition
against, any measure allowing individuals (and for that matter anything) to
protect their secrets, from encryption to anonimising tools to freenets to
anti-spyware programs, etc., I am wary of the so-called "legal" protection
of privacy, because most of its practical effect is to ensure a *monopoly"
of snooping and personal data processing in favour of public agencies (not
to mention corporations), to increase social control, and to expose most
individuals (and some corporations) to blackmail related to inevitable
breaches.

Not to mention the fact that with technological progress the social and
economic cost pertaining to any realistic enforcement of such rules is
going to balloon, and that the relevant resources are going to be
subtracted from other programmes even in a best case scenario.

So, I am inclined to believe that the world depicted in Bob Shaw's Other
Days, Other Eyes or in The Light of Other Days by Arthur C Clarke and
Stephen Baxter is not really the most nightmarish future we should be
concerned of. After all, 99% of the people during 99% of the history of
human societies, rulers included, did not enjoy any especial privacy unless
they went to substantial pains to ensure it, and we have no reason to
believe that the different state of thing which concerned the western urban
crowds for the last two or three centuries is any law of nature...

-- 
Stefano Vaj
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