Am I weird for not understanding privacy?

[Toccs]

I would also like to add, I bet the majority of us have broken some minor laws in countless countries without even knowing it.

[Deleted]

Some people seem to think that out of the billions of people in the world, the government is only interested in their life and is actively spying on everything they do. It's pathetic really. I'd rather they have access to everything and be able to intercept major terrorist attacks or child porn rings instead of kicking up a fuss because they are able to see I made my own Pizza last Tuesday.

[De Lupe]

I didn't counter anything, just thought I was proving that sometimes, politicians do the right thing and tell the truth when faced with it. Now, that was back in the 1880s when people tended to be more responsible with their actions...

Oh, sorry. Thought you were arguing since you said you were countering.

Or you could face reality. Sure you could do that but you would also give your opponent an edge or lose the elections altogether. That was just an example though.. I doubt most people would even want to run for presidency. There are more common reasons why people should be worried about it though. Maybe your an anarchist and if the government knows about it, they can mark you as "suspicious" and if something happens, you could become the top candidate for harassment because youre likely to condone or support such actions. Or maybe you like to get drunk and talk about how much you hate fat people.. and then an obese person is found murdered close to you.

I'd rather lose honestly, then win through deception.

[Crissi]

Oh, sorry. Thought you were arguing since you said you were countering.



I'd rather lose honestly, then win through deception.

lol that was part of the Wikipedia article, not my own commentary, but that's alright. The Opposition was trying to counter Cleveland xD

[StayTuned]

Some people seem to think that out of the billions of people in the world, the government is only interested in their life and is actively spying on everything they do. It's pathetic really. I'd rather they have access to everything and be able to intercept major terrorist attacks or child porn rings instead of kicking up a fuss because they are able to see I made my own Pizza last Tuesday.

if only the governments would actually use the information for our safety only. Most likely what would happen is that people would start being prosecuted for minor crimes, and somebody would get immensly rich by selling personal information to greedy companies.

[Deleted]

I'd rather lose honestly, then win through deception.

Withholding information that isn't anyones business has nothing to do with honesty but since people tend to be biased and stereotype it's best not to release it. When people hear that their future president used to throw wet toilet paper on peoples houses, get drunk and party and say lots of vulgarities as a teen, it would obviously give them a negative opinion about him or her but it doesn't say anything about what kind of person the candidate really is 40 years later.

[De Lupe]

Withholding information that isn't anyones business has nothing to do with honesty but since people tend to be biased and stereotype it's best not to release it. When people hear that their future president used to throw wet toilet paper on peoples houses, get drunk and party and say lots of vulgarities as a teen, it would obviously give them a negative opinion about him or her but it doesn't say anything about what kind of person the candidate really is 40 years later.

Until they think back upon their own teenage years and realize they did their fair of stupid shit too.

[Aliessil]

Personally I have no problem with information on me being collected. What I care about is what they do with it. If they're collecting the information, analyzing it for threats, and then destroying it when they don't find it, fine - I have no problem with that.

However, if that information is being passed on / sold, used to build a personality profile, track my political beliefs, work out what adverts to bombard me with, or anything else, then I have a problem with it.

The trouble is I don't trust governments AT ALL! Most politicians seem to play the game for their own advancement, they've little interest in the public good. Same goes for most corporations. Until that changes I'll do my damnedest to keep my life as private as possible.

[Elexo]

Many good reasons have been given already or will be given soon enough in this thread.
But there's another very simple fact.

It's -my- privacy and it's being taken without consent.
Doesn't matter what it is, it is MINE and someone else is stealing it.

I am not okay with that and neither should you.

[Crissi]

Many good reasons have been given already or will be given soon enough in this thread.
But there's another very simple fact.

It's -my- privacy and it's being taken without consent.
Doesn't matter what it is, it is MINE and someone else is stealing it.

I am not okay with that and neither should you.

Shouldn't we be getting mad at the companies then for collecting our data?

[Deleted]

I see a lot of talk about a persons right to privacy but I really don't care if someone (government) peeks in on what i'm doing. All they are going to see is Facebook, Porn, WoW, Mmo-champ mostly. I can understand not wanting some random internet creeper peeking in on you but why do some people get offended by the thought of the government looking in on your online activities?

That's because you start off from the deeply flawed notion that the government is somehow inherently good.

It's not. Big government (in general I mean) has killed far more people than "random internet creeps". When the government becomes too powerful you cease to matter.

[Ethes]

Well, I think you are! When it comes to the government spying on people, its not about whether or not what these people do is interesting but about the government's need and reason to do so.

In my opinion, there is no need to spy on regular citizens unless there is a good reason to suspect them of being a terrorist (and existence doesn't count as a good reason!). Moreover, it gives the government more power than it should have. Maybe they're not discriminating against people who're not voting for the current party that's in place, but with access to information like this they can.

The whole point is that they're collecting personal data for which they don't specify the purpose. There is no transparency and no oversight, which means they can basically do whatever they want. I don't have anything to hide either, but that doesn't mean that I want someone else to take the decision for me to have this information available for government use whenever it suits them.

[Deleted]

Shouldn't we be getting mad at the companies then for collecting our data?

So if your buddy jumps of the bridge, do you follow him? Sorry, couldn't resist. But it's the same line of thought.

Also this is why you should be careful with whatever data you're spreading yourself out there in the world wide web. You know .. it's your choice to use facebook or not (for example). It's a matter of CONSENT.

But always keep in mind: if something isn't paid for by money, then you pay by other means - often data.

Oh and I don't know about the USA, but around here privacy laws are pretty tight. A company is not allowed to store/use ANY personal data without consent and are restricted to collecting not unreasonable amounts. Per default personal data can only be collected to fulfill the contract with the customer, anything else is not allowed by default. Of course, given the consent of the customer companies can reduce these limitations.

Rule of thumb:
Per default EVERYTHING regarding personal data around here is NOT allowed, unless consent was explicitly given.

Oh... and consent isn't simply given by a font 6 addendum in the footnote. That kind of thing has no legal ground around here. But as stated, I'm NOT speaking of the USA here.

Also, a saying around here goes: "When nobody sues, nobody judges." It means even if a company is doing something they are not legally allowed to do, as long as people don't sue they can keep doing it. It's happening a lot in the fields of internet laws. Privacy, copy right, AGB (ToC) and so on. Simply because most normal people don't know their rights and sueing around here is a pretty time-consuming and exhausting matter.

[Itisamuh]

No, you're not weird. I don't care either. Why should I, when I've got nothing to hide even if they did look (which is unlikely.)

[Kalyyn]

Well, it should be noted that we are not guaranteed the right to privacy.

But I do like my privacy for one critical reason: bureaucrats can be some of the laziest, stupidest, most irrational sub-human spawn this world has ever known. And once the government is watching all of our online activities, suddenly I'm being hauled away to jail become some idiot mistook an episode of Lucky Star for child pornography.

The idea that the innocent have nothing to fear only works when your government isn't staffed by high-functioning retards. And that's logistically impossible, seeing as almost all humans fall into that category.

[Deleted]

No, you're not weird. I don't care either. Why should I, when I've got nothing to hide even if they did look (which is unlikely.)

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=5987804

Faulk says he and others in his section of the NSA facility at Fort Gordon routinely shared salacious or tantalizing phone calls that had been intercepted, alerting office mates to certain time codes of "cuts" that were available on each operator's computer.

"Hey, check this out," Faulk says he would be told, "there's good phone sex or there's some pillow talk, pull up this call, it's really funny, go check it out. It would be some colonel making pillow talk and we would say, 'Wow, this was crazy'," Faulk told ABC News.

Nobody's bloody business to listen in to that kind of thing.

Well, it should be noted that we are not guaranteed the right to privacy.

Funny, because the right to privacy is actually considered to be a human right.

[Deleted]

Because information is a currency like any other. By forcibly taking it, they are stealing it.

As for your internet activity, not having privacy there can damage your chances of getting a job if your employer disagrees with you or finds your activities too immature or not in good taste.

Do you honestly believe you employer buying information from the goverment about what porn I watch or who I talk with? Paranoid much. The only information I don't want them to have is my email adress because of spamm...but my email is leaked 1 min after it's created so theres no point in being worried about stupid things like that.

[Kalyyn]

Funny, because the right to privacy is actually considered to be a human right.

Woah man, no need to be hostile. I was wrong about something, fuck me, right?

But if you wouldn't mind, could your source on that? I've honestly never heard of this before. Frankly, with all the random crap that is considered a "human right" these days, they're hard to keep up with.

[Ethes]

Woah man, no need to be hostile. I was wrong about something, fuck me, right?

But if you wouldn't mind, could your source on that? I've honestly never heard of this before. Frankly, with all the random crap that is considered a "human right" these days, they're hard to keep up with.

Article 12.

No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.

Source: http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/index.shtml

[Deleted]

Woah man, no need to be hostile. I was wrong about something, fuck me, right?

I didn't mean to sound hostile. Sorry if it sounded that way
I guess I can get a bit passionate if I see privacy taken too lightly, because I find the topic quite saddening.

Concerning the source:
http://www.amnesty.de/umleitung/1899/deu07/001 (Sorry again, it's a German one)
But Google and Wikipedia should get you english sources easy enough.

Ethes beat me to it. Kudos to you!