Re: Collection of personal info

[tcmay@got.net (Timothy C. May)]

At 1:49 AM 9/7/95, Mac Norton wrote:
>Tim and I have corresponded about this previously,
>and again he neglects the distinction between
>collection and storage, on the one hand, and
>retrival and dissemination, on the other.  If you
>do the latter, your content better be accurate.
>
>That's the difference in Tim and TRW.  So far.:)

I don't really disagree with Mac, at least practically speaking.

(At a much deeper level, much deeper in terms of philosophy, I'm not even
sure _disseminators_ of information have any real necessity to be correct.
This is the issue of truth, reputation, etc. that we discuss so often. But,
I admit that the legal system does not support my anarcho-capitalist
extreme position, which is why I say I don't disagree with Mac,
"practically speaking.")

However, even if I were to start distributing the results of "Tim's
BlackNet Dossier Service," I don't think there's any justification for
people insisting that they have a right to "inspect" my records.

I think the current U.S. law is not too far from my own views. The credit
reporting agencies have an obvious interest in having accurate
information--except for the folks in the Witness program--and will
eventually correct errors. (Not everyone is happy with the speed, but this
is life in a world of finite resources; and I acknowledge that there are
pathological cases of incorrect identity, etc.)

I still favor free market alternatives to top-down government "protection."

And, lest anyone think I'm lapsing in my basic beliefs, I lean toward
throwing out _all_ laws about libel, slander, and false information. After
all, "what is truth?," to coin a phrase.

--Tim May


---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:----
Timothy C. May              | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,
tcmay@got.net  408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero
Corralitos, CA              | knowledge, reputations, information markets,
Higher Power: 2^756839      | black markets, collapse of governments.
"National borders are just speed bumps on the information superhighway."