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  • Nov 24, 2009 @ 06:28am

    Distinction between Goverment abuse and individual abuse

    This is an example of personal misconduct and not a goverment system that abused the use of personal data. In this case, their needs to be safeguards to prevent the abuse. Apparently the safeguard to detect the abuse has worked, because we now know of it.

    If we make the premise that the government can not be trusted with data and building large databases then we must assume that these programs are opportunities for abuse:

    1. The Health Care Legislation
    2. 911 house location data
    3. The census
    4. Social Security

    Should the government abandon these programs because it is too risky to hold all of that data? Should we privatize these functions?

    If we want the rich interaction and services that our governemnt provides, they must collect data. The focus should not be on the fact that the government collects data, but on the safegaurds to ensure data is not misused. With that said, I would have made the title of this article: "Senior Ranking Official Misuses Privacy Data: Where Were the Safeguards to Keep it Safe?"