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0 pointsdpark14y ago0 comments

This only makes sense if information flows both ways. When one party has significant information about another party, and the second party doesn't have similar information about the first, an imbalance is created that gives the first party power over the second. When I know your secrets, I have power over you. You fear my knowledge, perhaps rightfully so, because your secrets might be enough to destroy your life, or at least cause you significant embarrassment.

When the government engages in widespread privacy violations, they are creating this same kind of power imbalance. You know nothing new about the government, but the government may know many things about you. They may have information tha could greatly embarrass you. They might have information they could use to arrest you, even if you've done nothing wrong or illegal.

This is not an increase in awareness or information flow or efficiency. It is merely an increase in government power.

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dennisgorelik14y ago· 2 in thread

That's a valid argument. The solution - making government more open. Including being open about what kind of information government does collect. Including creating another government agencies that oversee government agencies that collect information about citizens.

As usual there are budget constraints on that system, so even though government would not be limited legally too much about the amount of information it can collect, it still would be pretty limited by the budget, because it's expensive to maintain red tape and keep collected information secure.

In any case, legal system should mostly limit government in how much it can restrict citizens, not in how much information government can collect.

dparkOP14y ago

> Including creating another government agencies that oversee government agencies that collect information about citizens.

Because the solution to government overstepping is government oversight?

> In any case, legal system should mostly limit government in how much it can restrict citizens, not in how much information government can collect.

I don't understand how you can hold this belief. Do you believe that information holds no value, or that it doesn't give the government power to hold the secrets of its populace? Or do you believe that the government cannot be too strong? I'm seriously confused how you can believe that government snooping has no downside.

dennisgorelik14y ago

> Because the solution to government overstepping is government oversight?

Yes.

+ Budget limitations.

+ Oversight from the press.

Every action has downside (including watching), but relatively to restricting freedom to act, downside of watching is small.

In addition to that there are significant benefits of efficient watching. Imagine that there is watching device that clearly identifies people who are planning terrorist attack. That significantly simplifies security check in airports and saves everyone time and effort in the process.

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