4 ms·

Would your reaction be different if he were a sysadmin snooping on emails, didn't ever do anything from the snooping, just snooped?

klodolph 11y ago
To be perfectly honest with you, as someone who worked in IT and knew how easy it was to snoop on emails if I wanted, I have decided that I am okay with a few strangers reading my emails. I decided that the alternative--being upset about something I cannot change and which impacts me little--is worse. I can't pretend to speak on others' behalf.
- yarou 11y ago
  Are you okay with someone reading your biometrics? How about using that data to determine if you're eligible for medical coverage or not? Or using your email example, what if somebody used that information against you in your next interview? I'm sorry, but privacy is a black and white issue. We can either have a surveillance state or not have one at all. Compromising on any surveillance, carried out by humans, is frankly dangerous and naive.
  - basch 11y ago
    do the people he watched become victims you tell them they were being watched? none of the information he released was used directly against people. at times he seems to have crossed the line of not acting on his knowledge, eg to flush drugs down the toilet.
  - klodolph 11y ago
    I'm sorry, but privacy is not a black and white issue. It's never that simple, and it's a disservice to try and simplify it until you can understand it in black and white terms. There's public information, and there's private information, but there's a whole spectrum of information (semi-public, semi-private) inbetween. I consider emails to be akin to leaving papers on my desk at work. J. Q. Public can't read them, but I know that janitors come through my office every night.
    - yarou 11y ago
      To be clear, I'm fine with data mining my emails to find certain features for analytics or data science purposes. But my point is that you, as an individual, should be the gatekeeper to all of your information, private or public. Now, whether or not you choose to cede that right is entirely your prerogative (as in the case of Gmail, where the TOS specifically outlines how your data might be used). However, there should be no doubt that privacy is a fundamental human right, much like property.
      - klodolph 11y ago
        Right, privacy is a fundamental human right. But that doesn't answer the question of whether our emails are private or not.
LouisSayers 11y ago
If his intentions were solely for his own personal satisfaction, it affected no-one, and he anonymised all information then no, I have no problem with that. In fact it kind of reminds me of articles from dating companies where they release the 'best openers' and other interesting data about their users.

klodolph 11y ago

To be perfectly honest with you, as someone who worked in IT and knew how easy it was to snoop on emails if I wanted, I have decided that I am okay with a few strangers reading my emails. I decided that the alternative--being upset about something I cannot change and which impacts me little--is worse. I can't pretend to speak on others' behalf.

yarou 11y ago
Are you okay with someone reading your biometrics? How about using that data to determine if you're eligible for medical coverage or not? Or using your email example, what if somebody used that information against you in your next interview? I'm sorry, but privacy is a black and white issue. We can either have a surveillance state or not have one at all. Compromising on any surveillance, carried out by humans, is frankly dangerous and naive.
- basch 11y ago
  do the people he watched become victims you tell them they were being watched? none of the information he released was used directly against people. at times he seems to have crossed the line of not acting on his knowledge, eg to flush drugs down the toilet.
- klodolph 11y ago
  I'm sorry, but privacy is not a black and white issue. It's never that simple, and it's a disservice to try and simplify it until you can understand it in black and white terms. There's public information, and there's private information, but there's a whole spectrum of information (semi-public, semi-private) inbetween. I consider emails to be akin to leaving papers on my desk at work. J. Q. Public can't read them, but I know that janitors come through my office every night.
  - yarou 11y ago
    To be clear, I'm fine with data mining my emails to find certain features for analytics or data science purposes. But my point is that you, as an individual, should be the gatekeeper to all of your information, private or public. Now, whether or not you choose to cede that right is entirely your prerogative (as in the case of Gmail, where the TOS specifically outlines how your data might be used). However, there should be no doubt that privacy is a fundamental human right, much like property.
    - klodolph 11y ago
      Right, privacy is a fundamental human right. But that doesn't answer the question of whether our emails are private or not.

LouisSayers 11y ago

If his intentions were solely for his own personal satisfaction, it affected no-one, and he anonymised all information then no, I have no problem with that. In fact it kind of reminds me of articles from dating companies where they release the 'best openers' and other interesting data about their users.