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0 pointsaxegon_1mo ago0 comments

Though the EU is at large keeping it's composure with this. My only criticism towards the EU as an EU citizen is how slow and bureaucratic the EU is and that decisions that should be made on the fly are dragged on forever.

That said, government agencies have been doing a terrible job at keeping the private information of citizens safe. But it is nowhere nearly as bad as the US. My best childhood friend died in very questionable circumstances in 2009 in the US in very questionable circumstances. He had a US citizenship and we never really found out what had happened(to the point where we never really got any definitive proof that he had died). But that didn't stop me from trying and I was blown away by the fact that I could log into a US government website, register with a burner mail, pay 2 bucks with an anonymous gift credit/debit card and get a scanned copy of his death certificate in my email. And I didn't even have to provide his passport/id/anything. Just his name.

Point is, the US has been terrible at privacy for as long as I can remember. It is probably worse now with Facebook and Ellison holding TikTok.

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pjc501mo ago

The critical thing is not so much "Americans" as "big money". Big Russian money is also a threat. Big Chinese money .. well, there's a bit of that about, but it doesn't seem to have shown up at the legislation influencing layer.

tinfoilhatter1mo ago

You fail to mention big Israel money, when 98% of US congress members are taking donations from AIPAC. Strange omission on your part.

whimsicalism1mo ago

100% of AIPAC money is from Americans.

gzread1mo ago

What does that mean, though? In a sense, 100% of USD transactions take place in the US. But sometimes it's on behalf of someone else.

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johnnyanmac1mo ago

Sure. Maybe in 2040 we'll know the real truth.

axegon_OP1mo ago

Oh, that's a different topic: as someone from and living in eastern Europe, there's not a single doubt in my mind that the biggest threat to any civilization is russia by a long shot. The alarming part is that the current US administration hasn't got a single clue of history, suffers from chronic incompetence and the whole superiority complex and fanboying russia as a consequence - those pose a threat. In the context of the conversation, the incompetence is arguably the biggest facepalm moment.

officeplant1mo ago

>biggest threat to any civilization is russia by a long shot

I don't mean to be the average gloating US citizen, but I'm pretty sure we're the largest threat to the Earth.

bojan1mo ago

Only because of Russian money and influence that helped this administration to power.

The root of the problem is Russia, always has been.

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lionkor1mo ago

> the biggest threat to any civilization is russia

Surely you meant this as hyperbole, right? If not, I would love your reasoning as to why its a bigger threat than literally anything and anyone else.

axegon_OP1mo ago

> someone from and living in eastern Europe

Reasoning: experience.

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pjc501mo ago

I think this is entirely reasonable given the history of Russia vs Eastern Europe, but especially the invasion of Ukraine. Russia is currently being held at the Dnipro river, but Putin has stated his intention to "recapture" most of the former USSR.

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Aurornis1mo ago

> I was blown away by the fact that I could log into a US government website, register with a burner mail, pay 2 bucks with an anonymous gift credit/debit card and get a scanned copy of his death certificate in my email. And I didn't even have to provide his passport/id/anything. Just his name.

Death certificates become public record after a period of time, depending on the state. In some states it’s 25 years after death, some more, some less.

https://www.usa.gov/death-certificate#:~:text=Can%20anyone%2...

As far as I can tell this is the same as in the EU: Death certificates can be publicly accessed for a fee after a period of time defined by member states.

I found some comments saying death certificates in the UK could be accessed as early as 6 months in some locations.

So I don’t see this as the US being uniquely terrible on privacy. This is how most of the western world does it. You just had experience with the US and assumed EU was different.

> we never really found out what had happened(to the point where we never really got any definitive proof that he had died).

I’m sorry for your loss, but doesn’t this imply that the US did do a good job of protecting his privacy? It wasn’t until the time limit had passed that you were able to find the death certificate.

DharmaPolice1mo ago

Death certificates are public records (at least in the UK) so why shouldn't you be able to get one? I think the alternative, where people's deaths could be kept secret by the state is a far greater risk than the privacy rights of the dead (GDPR type laws generally apply to the living).

I don't know about elsewhere but in the UK anyone can apply for any death certificate going back to 1837.

axegon_OP1mo ago

Applying is one thing. Giving unrestricted access to anyone, which contains a ton of private information, be it of a deceased person, is not OK. Going back to my original statement: fake name, fake email, untraceable payment.

DharmaPolice1mo ago

It doesn't matter if it's a fake name as it's a pubic record. Anyone is allowed to see the information.

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pjc501mo ago

tinfoilhatter1mo ago

You fail to mention big Israel money, when 98% of US congress members are taking donations from AIPAC. Strange omission on your part.

whimsicalism1mo ago

100% of AIPAC money is from Americans.

gzread1mo ago

What does that mean, though? In a sense, 100% of USD transactions take place in the US. But sometimes it's on behalf of someone else.

1 more reply

johnnyanmac1mo ago

Sure. Maybe in 2040 we'll know the real truth.

axegon_OP1mo ago

officeplant1mo ago

>biggest threat to any civilization is russia by a long shot

I don't mean to be the average gloating US citizen, but I'm pretty sure we're the largest threat to the Earth.

bojan1mo ago

Only because of Russian money and influence that helped this administration to power.

The root of the problem is Russia, always has been.

1 more reply

lionkor1mo ago

> the biggest threat to any civilization is russia

Surely you meant this as hyperbole, right? If not, I would love your reasoning as to why its a bigger threat than literally anything and anyone else.

axegon_OP1mo ago

> someone from and living in eastern Europe

Reasoning: experience.

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pjc501mo ago

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Aurornis1mo ago

Death certificates become public record after a period of time, depending on the state. In some states it’s 25 years after death, some more, some less.

https://www.usa.gov/death-certificate#:~:text=Can%20anyone%2...

As far as I can tell this is the same as in the EU: Death certificates can be publicly accessed for a fee after a period of time defined by member states.

I found some comments saying death certificates in the UK could be accessed as early as 6 months in some locations.

So I don’t see this as the US being uniquely terrible on privacy. This is how most of the western world does it. You just had experience with the US and assumed EU was different.

> we never really found out what had happened(to the point where we never really got any definitive proof that he had died).

DharmaPolice1mo ago

I don't know about elsewhere but in the UK anyone can apply for any death certificate going back to 1837.

axegon_OP1mo ago

DharmaPolice1mo ago

It doesn't matter if it's a fake name as it's a pubic record. Anyone is allowed to see the information.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse