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For the US/UK this is the thin end of the wedge. Germany has, in many people's lifetimes, been at the other end. Have a look at what the Stasi were up to in Ea

For the US/UK this is the thin end of the wedge. Germany has, in many people's lifetimes, been at the other end. Have a look at what the Stasi were up to in East Germany until 1989 to understand why Germans feel privacy is important.

cJ0th 11y ago
As a German I do know about what the Stasi did. The thing is that most Germans don't acknowledge the relationship between what was going on then and what is going on now. I don't know a single (German) person outside of tech who thinks anything they (ordinarily) do online or on their smartphone could be used against them in one way or another. Some may complain about the government but they didn't change their habits when it comes to using their smartphone or laptop. They don't realize that, for instance, every picture they add to facebook will train algorithms that could be used for all kind of purposes. President Gauck doesn't think it is valid to compare the Stasi and the NSA > Gauck wehrt sich gegen Vergleich der NSA mit der Stasi Das erklärt auch, warum er in dem Interview jeden Vergleich zwischen den Methoden der Stasi und den Aktivitäten der NSA weit zurückweist. Die Stasi habe wie jeder Geheimdienst in einer Diktatur "Krieg gegen das eigene Volk geführt". Sie habe die Bürger bespitzelt, um diese Bespitzelungen gegen die Bürger zu richten. Davon könne aktuell nicht die Rede sein. "Hier sprechen wir von einer Gefahr für die Demokratie innerhalb der Demokratie." http://www.nzz.ch/international/nsa-forschte-merkel-umfassender-aus-als-bisher-bekannt-1.18699776 http://www.nzz.ch/international/nsa-forschte-merkel-umfassen... And Chanchelor Merkel declared data the "raw material of the 21th century" and urged Germans to rethink their position on privacy > Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel hat Daten als "Rohstoffe des 21. Jahrhunderts" bezeichnet. "Hier müssen wir jetzt aufpassen, dass der Datenschutz nicht die Oberhand über die wirtschaftliche Verarbeitung gewinnt", sagte die CDU-Politikern am Montag in Berlin beim Verlegerkongress Publishers' Summit. http://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/Merkel-Daten-sind-Rohstoffe-des-21-Jahrhunderts-2867735.html http://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/Merkel-Daten-sind-Roh... Both, Merkel and Gauck, grew up in the GDR!
- StringyBob 11y ago
  "Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it" Thanks for elaborating. I feel somewhat foolish trying to tell a German about the Stasi. On the internet we assume everyone is an American - well unless you're the NSA watching in which case it's definitely not domestic surveillance ;-)
  - cmarschner 11y ago
    Read HN in the night US time and you'll see it can be very Europe-cebtric :-)
  - DKnoll 11y ago
    On the internet we assume everyone is an American Who's we? ;)

cJ0th 11y ago

As a German I do know about what the Stasi did. The thing is that most Germans don't acknowledge the relationship between what was going on then and what is going on now. I don't know a single (German) person outside of tech who thinks anything they (ordinarily) do online or on their smartphone could be used against them in one way or another. Some may complain about the government but they didn't change their habits when it comes to using their smartphone or laptop. They don't realize that, for instance, every picture they add to facebook will train algorithms that could be used for all kind of purposes. President Gauck doesn't think it is valid to compare the Stasi and the NSA > Gauck wehrt sich gegen Vergleich der NSA mit der Stasi Das erklärt auch, warum er in dem Interview jeden Vergleich zwischen den Methoden der Stasi und den Aktivitäten der NSA weit zurückweist. Die Stasi habe wie jeder Geheimdienst in einer Diktatur "Krieg gegen das eigene Volk geführt". Sie habe die Bürger bespitzelt, um diese Bespitzelungen gegen die Bürger zu richten. Davon könne aktuell nicht die Rede sein. "Hier sprechen wir von einer Gefahr für die Demokratie innerhalb der Demokratie." http://www.nzz.ch/international/nsa-forschte-merkel-umfassender-aus-als-bisher-bekannt-1.18699776 http://www.nzz.ch/international/nsa-forschte-merkel-umfassen... And Chanchelor Merkel declared data the "raw material of the 21th century" and urged Germans to rethink their position on privacy > Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel hat Daten als "Rohstoffe des 21. Jahrhunderts" bezeichnet. "Hier müssen wir jetzt aufpassen, dass der Datenschutz nicht die Oberhand über die wirtschaftliche Verarbeitung gewinnt", sagte die CDU-Politikern am Montag in Berlin beim Verlegerkongress Publishers' Summit. http://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/Merkel-Daten-sind-Rohstoffe-des-21-Jahrhunderts-2867735.html http://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/Merkel-Daten-sind-Roh... Both, Merkel and Gauck, grew up in the GDR!

StringyBob 11y ago
"Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it" Thanks for elaborating. I feel somewhat foolish trying to tell a German about the Stasi. On the internet we assume everyone is an American - well unless you're the NSA watching in which case it's definitely not domestic surveillance ;-)
- cmarschner 11y ago
  Read HN in the night US time and you'll see it can be very Europe-cebtric :-)
- DKnoll 11y ago
  On the internet we assume everyone is an American Who's we? ;)