[ExI] before?

[Dan TheBookMan]

On Sat, Apr 2, 2016 at 8:12 AM, William Flynn Wallace <foozler83 at gmail.com>
wrote:
> We have touched on the issue of privacy several times lately and
> I wonder if it received a lot of attention before I joined.

I recall some discussion of universal surveillance, which would mean zero
or near zero privacy. Or maybe I'm confusing this group with another. That
discussion was before 2010.

> We are concerned about it but I don't see any conclusions about
> what the appropriate level of privacy is.

That might be the tougher discussion to have if one agrees that there
should be any privacy at all. I think the thing to worry about is big
players like the state being able to effectively use information against
everyone else. For instance, for most people there seem to be things about
themselves that can be used to control them. A case in point might be,
today, any private thoughts or talk about things that are currently deemed
inappropriate -- where the person holding such thoughts or saying such
things is likely to lose their job and be ostracized. Now, one could argue
in a post-privacy world such things won't matter. That's possible, though
things could go the other way: people conform as much as possible to avoid
incurring all kinds of sanctions, and others realize that the whip of such
sanctions can be used to keep people in line.

> Denmark is making a necrogenomic database: DNA from everyone who dies.
> Is this appropriate?  I don't know what else they are collecting, such as
cause
> of death and so on, but in the  long run this could do a lot of good.  It
could
> also run up insurance rates for the descendants in some countries if the
> insurance companies got hold of the data.

The issue for civil libertarians would be any requirement to do so. Is
there any allowing people to practically opt out?

> For myself, I am an open person who will tell you my grandmother's shoe
> size if asked.  I don't care what anyone knows about me as long as my
> Visa card is safe.

That's you. The thing to wonder about is can people keep and expect privacy
about things regardless if you want to let the world know? For instance,
where I live, there are nude beaches. Obviously, those folks don't care
about their genitals being publicly seen, but does that mean no one can,
say, stop peeping toms?

Regards,

Dan
  Sample my Kindle books via:
http://www.amazon.com/Dan-Ust/e/B00J6HPX8M/
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