...but who watches the watchers

May 19, 2006 4:58 AM

The Eternal Value of Privacy excellent article by Bruce Schneier.
posted by i_am_a_Jedi (13 comments total)

Wired really is returning to relevance!
Thanks for the link.

Here's a cool statement on the current state of privacy in the US to go with the article.
posted by nofundy at 5:06 AM on May 19, 2006

And if there is no right to privacy for persons , why can't I just enter a corporation and obtain their data at will ? Why can't I just enter a factory to check out if they are mistreating childs or spilling chemicals in rivers ?
posted by elpapacito at 5:31 AM on May 19, 2006

David Brin's take.
posted by sourwookie at 6:38 AM on May 19, 2006 [1 favorite]

elpapacito: Because you'd be trespassing. We USians might not have strong privacy laws, but we do have plenty of property laws.
posted by revgeorge at 7:02 AM on May 19, 2006

I'm glad somebody FPPed this. I was gonna, but I've already linked to Schneier, like, 2 or 3 times.
posted by Afroblanco at 7:14 AM on May 19, 2006

and we DO NOT want information to be considered property (that's why we have all these copyright issues) therefore your privacy (your information) SHOULD be available to all the world, as distasteful as it sounds.
posted by blue_beetle at 7:27 AM on May 19, 2006

sourwookie: Thanks for the link. I had not read anything from David Brin in the past, but I am sure to now in the future.
posted by TheFeatheredMullet at 7:50 AM on May 19, 2006

Apparently I walk past 300 cameras a day on my way to work.
posted by catchmurray at 8:51 AM on May 19, 2006

"Tyranny, whether it arises under threat of foreign physical attack or under constant domestic authoritative scrutiny, is still tyranny. Liberty requires security without intrusion, security plus privacy."

This is a nice turn of phrase. Thanks.
posted by OmieWise at 9:48 AM on May 19, 2006

David Brin's Earth deals in part with the kind of privacy loss he talks about in the article. Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter wrote The Light of Other Days, where there is a complete loss of privacy. Similar technology is the subject of Asimov's The Dead Past.
posted by TheOnlyCoolTim at 9:51 AM on May 19, 2006

Dear NSA
posted by caddis at 9:55 AM on May 19, 2006

In David Brin's Earth privacy was considered selfish and distasteful.
posted by sourwookie at 11:38 AM on May 19, 2006

The coast guard?
posted by jewzilla at 11:50 AM on May 19, 2006