Privacy!

[viking60]

Privacy is a human right and is a key element in freedom. It has been put under some heavy strain lately with services from Google and Facebook. In the case of Facebook people choose to give up personal information and without sufficient knowledge of the technology they give away their privacy more or less voluntarily. Google does take some initiatives that you have not agreed to so they go a bit further but most of the personal data collected are given away. Now it is my personal view that people are incredibly naive in doing this but freedom is the freedom to make bad choices too. It becomes an entirely different ballgame when someone starts to collect data about you and your network and your movements via your smartphone computer and Credit card, without your accept. So when you call your friend they will know: who you called When you called Where you called from What you called from Where your friend is Same thing with email And all your surfing on the internet. And they will know this about every friend you call so it is easy to identify your entire electronic network. Since it is impossible today to avoid electronic communication they can pretty much trace you every minute of the day. Now this is worth nothing if the data are not saved. This Data retention makes it possible to go back in time and clearly establish that you were in the parking lot of the World trade center right before it collapsed. How? Just by the simple and eternally ongoing connecting from your smart phone to the nearest node. Identifying the extreme Muslim networks just became easier. And pedophiles have a dark future and Hells Angels too. This is a good thing right? Finally we can get those bastards and castrate them (Well I think that is an appealing thought )? And while we are at it we can identify leaks of illegal material to the press. We can catch the whistle blowers. And basically it would be possible to monitor Communists too in case they are up to their usual undemocratic crap. And DRM - downloading copyrighted material - we can't have that! Se where this is going? Do you feel your free space getting narrowed down? Would you agree that it is a human right to have one space entirely to your self, where you cannot be watched and controlled? It comes down to this: Do you want freedom or Do you want safety Do you want freedom instead of fear? People in Italy felt pretty safe under Mussolini (If you shoot 10 then at least 3 are bound to be Mafia).

Most politicians are control junkies so they love data retention and the EU has decided that fighting crime is more important than human rights and privacy. The Germans toke this to court and the court decided that the Data retention was unconstitutional and violating the Human rights! At this point I would like to express my admiration for the German Judicial system and my explicit joy and happiness of the giant kick in the but to the politicians who decided to violate their own peoples rights. It was ILLEGAL to treat an entire population as suspects. It is illegal to store data about your movements and network and whereabouts without you being suspected of anything. The fact that you could become a criminal in 2 years is not a valid argument. So the biggest member of the EU turned down this EU regulation. Romania did the same. Norway is eager to please and the social democrats who have a long tradition for illegal surveillance want it as soon as possible. The Conservatives seem to follow them - but only the leaders. There is a massive majority against, in the party organisation. That makes me wonder what happens when people get elected to positions in power. How dare they spit on the majority of the people in a matter where they shall spy on us who elected them. The serious crimes that are to be prevented by this, will most likely not be prevented because organized crime is -organized. They will avoid the systems. The danger of abuse is colossal. The thing left is the surveillance of you and me and other common people. One 15 year old will get in trouble for downloading music and other small potatoes. Making the entire argument (serious crime) for data retention obsolete. This can happen because people are not aware. Politicians hoped to camouflage the entire process in a load of bureaucracy and paper. And it went fine for a long time. Then they got shocked by the uprising after more and more people understood what this was about. Their personal privacy and freedom! Since it is implemented in several countries I will do anything I can to help them to preserve that human right, so here we go: these services will camouflage your IP and hide your identity: http://hidemyass.com http://surfproxy.de http://proxify.com http://anonymouse.org/ http://www.the-cloak.com/login.html I will be back with a review of them soon... For your privacy and cheers for your human rights.

[dedanna1029]

Okay, this thing just made me lose a post.

I agree whole-heartedly with what you're saying; however, I propose a sort of compromise to where the people can have their privacy as much as possible, and the real criminals can be caught.

1) That we establish a minimum "level" if you will, of criminal activity, that's real honest criminal activity. What's the minimum on this? I think it should be based on real terrorism, not FUD, and screw the RIAA and MPAA, they'll have to live with it.

2) That there are scans every 3 months, on the people, and not constant scanning. If that minimum level of criminal activity is reached 3x, then they're out (kind of like the "3 strikes you're out" law we have here in some states in the U.S.

Now, if this post gets lost again, I'll be real ticked.

[viking60]

I will NEVER accept any system that treats an entire population as suspects. Who will be controlling the scanners? This thing is so Big Brother that it sends cold shivers down my spine.
It is the method of dictatorships like GDR. STASI stands for State Security Service (Feel free to call it SS).
Human rights are global and non negotiable.

Why should our children teenagers and elders be spied on to catch Osama Bin Laden?
Reduce it to suspect groups like Muslims and people of Arabic origin.
Pedophiles can be caught amongst adults working with children like Catholic priests, Teachers, Police Officers working with pedophile material, And people involved in child aid programs.
Hells Angels you will find amongst people who have a Harley Davidson. Once identified they can be put under surveillance all the time and when the police needs it they can ask the court to get the data to get the job done.
How very unfair to suspect entire groups like this you say?
Yes and still extremely much better than widening the group to everybody!
That is a violation of epic proportions and an expression for the politicians and bureaucrats not trusting you. Lesson one in democracy is that the politicians you -the people- do not trust, have to go!
Here this is turned upside down - the politicians do not trust you! It is a threat to the entire concept of democracy.

[dedanna1029]

Well, that's the same here, y'know.

[viking60]

Yeah the thing that bothers me the most. Is the lack of awarnes amongst people. This is heavily exploited by our government.
"Get the thing through before anybody understands what it is about".
What they do not like is an open debate about it. Spies never do!

[R_Head]

The formula is so simple....

Place the people in fear and they will give their life/soul for security.

We will be slaves as long a currency is around the planet.

[dedanna1029]

Lack of awareness=willful ignorance. Willfully ignorant people=sheeple. Why do you think I use that term so much? They don't want to know, they don't care. Sheep to the slaughter.
There are those who are aware and awake, but nowhere near enough to do what needs to be done in this country. This is why I appreciate that the bastards are listening. I continue to give them an earful, and am not going to stop. I'm glad the bastards are listening right now. I figure if they don't like what I say they can effing turn off their ears, but instead I'm probably on over a hundred terrorist lists.

I don't care.

Why do you think I posted this?

Edit: Then, we also have the sheeple who want peace so bad, that they're deluded enough to think that a peaceful revolution would bring down this country. Um, excuse you? The pentagon, the white house, the state governments, the county and city governments, the military (air force, army, marine, branches all around the world, and there's another one too), the fbi, the cia, Homeland Insecurity also all around the world. And we're going to bring them all down and kick them all out peacefully. Riiiiiiiiiggghht. AFAIK, according to constitutional amendment 2, in the Bill of Rights, I have the right to take up arms against them. But then, I'm not deluded enough to think that I can kick them all out that way, either. I'd be dead in 5 minutes. We all would be.

[viking60]

both of you. This is about privacy in regard to data retention. The general "I hate my country thread" is somewhere else. And curency is a bit off too.
And I would like to see some arguments rather than colorfull descriptions of those not suitable.
I think the lack of awarnes can have many reasons and I will not call people unaware of this, bastards or sheeple.
Remember the topic is not brought to their atention - probably on purpose.

[R_Head]

I'd be dead in 5 minutes. We all would be.

"Give me Liberty, or give me Death!"
Patrick Henry

[viking60]

Yup that is to the point.
"Safety before liberty" does make the fine words in most constitutions obsolete.

[dedanna1029]

New signature below.

[viking60]

Excactly
If you think technology can solve your security problems, then you don't understand the problems and you don't understand the technology.