Do Privacy Fears Allow Terrorism?
from the that's-the-question dept
Are privacy and security mutually exclusive? While many people seem to think so, I have a problem with the assertion. It assumes that “more information” is the same as “better information” when, in reality, “more information” can mean it’s harder to find the important information. However, the debate continues to rage on. The ACLU and the ACM arranged a discussion on the topic and invited someone to defend things like the TIA program to spy on everyone – and it’s generated quite a bit of press. Declan McCullough wrote up a pretty straightforward wrapup of the debate, while Wired News described all these techies and privacy advocates as temporarily
stunned when they were called Luddites for not supporting programs like the TIA that would let the government spy on everyone. Hiawatha Bray at the Boston Globe focused more on the folks on the other side of the debate who argued for privacy rights.
Comments on “Do Privacy Fears Allow Terrorism?”
what goes around comes around
I just keeping thinking that we are rapidly becoming what the USSR was.
Maybe those that prefer security over privacy and freedom would be happier in a communist country.
Re: what goes around comes around
Ironically, actually having an idea of what the former USSR was like tends to make one a supporter of these “privacy-invading” technologies. Had you actually known how the Soviet Union conducted its business, you would be aware that we could not be any further away from that.
The slippery slope argument, while valid at times, in this case holds close to as much water as the following: Ketchup packets are now being made available in public schools. What’s next? If we don’t stop this, how soon till the government makes us all drink a gallon of ketchup before we go to sleep every night?
A doesn’t always mean that it will lead to B. Sometimes B really is eons away from A. It doesn’t mean we shouldn’t worry about it. However, it just might mean that we don’t need to fight to keep ketchup packets out of schools.