Re: FUCK YOU: There's no general right to privacy -- get over it, from Netly

[Ray Arachelian <sunder@brainlink.com>]

On Fri, 13 Jun 1997, Declan McCullagh wrote:

> Oh, and at least read the whole article.
> 
> -Declan
>    
>    Privacy? What Privacy?
> 
>    by Declan McCullagh   June 12, 1997
>    
>         I have a confession to make: Unlike many of my civil libertarian
>    colleagues, I believe you have no general right to privacy online.
>    Sure, you have the right to protect your personal data, but you
>    shouldn't be able to stop someone else from passing along that
>    information if you let it leave your computer. That's your
>    responsibility.

I still disagree, and not just online.  There is plenty of information
that you have no control over but should.  Your credit card transactions
for instance can be looked up by any scumbag willing to pay money to TRW
and it's ilk.  Your DMV records, your health records.  In theory only
those that need to know this knowledge should be able to access it, and in
practice what have we seen so far? 

If I give XYZ corp any info I expect them not to sell that info without my
permission.  Verily, that information is valuable, therefore if they want
to sell it, they should get my permission, and should pay me for it.

I don't necessarily want government restrictions on privacy, however I
would want a constitutional amendment to privacy that says: all I do is
private unless I explicitly share it with others, and if I do share it,
they may not pass it on to others without my permission.  This is on a
personal level, not on a corporate or governmental level.  Why I feel this
way is an excercise for the reader.  Hint: Uncle Sam works for us since we
pay him from our income.  We don't work for him (most of the time.)

How many loons have used DMV records to stalk their victims?

How about the nice Netscape hole that allows sites to surf your hard drive
as you're surfing their sites?

Yes, I do take privacy seriously, and I do protect it.  But to say anyone
has the right to snoop my machines and see what I have there is NOT cool.
What I leave on my computer is my private business, and NOBODY HAS THE
RIGHT TO SURF IT WITHOUT MY PERMISSION.  Whether or not they have root.
As for Radio Shack weasels, I don't give them info, or give them
misleading info.  What's on my hard drives and in my machine's RAM is NONE
OF ANYONE'S BUSINESS!

At the last PC Expo, I registered as H.P. Lovecraft.  When I buy things
that are purchased by credit card I know that info will leak out, and
don't do this unless I'm willing to leak it out.

So, I still disagree with your view.  Even after reading the whole
article.

=====================================Kaos=Keraunos=Kybernetos==============
.+.^.+.|  Ray Arachelian    | "If you wanna touch the sky, you must  |./|\.
..\|/..|sunder@sundernet.com| be prepared to die.  And I hate cough  |/\|/\
<--*-->| ------------------ | syrup, don't you?"                     |\/|\/
../|\..| "A toast to Odin,  | For with those which eternal lie, with |.\|/.
.+.v.+.|God of screwdrivers"| strange aeons, even death may die.     |.....
======================== http://www.sundernet.com =========================