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The government is supposed to play by different (more constrained) rules because it has a monopoly on force. I don't know what the legality of the NSA buying p

The government is supposed to play by different (more constrained) rules because it has a monopoly on force. I don't know what the legality of the NSA buying private data is, but it feels like it violates the spirit of the law that says they shouldn't be spying on their citizens.

ilovetux 3y ago
> it has a monopoly on force I don't think this is true. These guys are still around[0] even after garnering their bad reputation. [0] https://pinkerton.com/ https://pinkerton.com/
- ilikehurdles 3y ago
  https://www.britannica.com/topic/state-monopoly-on-violence https://www.britannica.com/topic/state-monopoly-on-violence
- banannaise 3y ago
  They can only operate as such because the state turns a blind eye. It is no coincidence that they tend to be hired by parties that have tremendous political influence, act much like private police, and have an extremely cozy relationship with the actual police.
gruez 3y ago
> The government is supposed to play by different (more constrained) rules because it has a monopoly on force. How is this relevant when the government is purchasing the data on the open market? >but it feels like it violates the spirit of the law that says they shouldn't be spying on their citizens. No, the spirit of the law is that the government can't use its monopoly on violence to gather evidence.
- janalsncm 3y ago
  We can set whatever rules we want for the government. Whether the information is available on the open market doesn’t matter. Government isn’t a force of nature. We could say the government is only allowed to buy data on a Friday the 13th during a full moon if we want.
  - gruez 3y ago
    >We can set whatever rules we want for the government. But that's not what was discussed. The comment I replied to was talking about "the spirit of the law", which is separate from what the law ought be today.

ilovetux 3y ago

> it has a monopoly on force I don't think this is true. These guys are still around[0] even after garnering their bad reputation. [0] https://pinkerton.com/ https://pinkerton.com/

ilikehurdles 3y ago
https://www.britannica.com/topic/state-monopoly-on-violence https://www.britannica.com/topic/state-monopoly-on-violence
banannaise 3y ago
They can only operate as such because the state turns a blind eye. It is no coincidence that they tend to be hired by parties that have tremendous political influence, act much like private police, and have an extremely cozy relationship with the actual police.

gruez 3y ago

> The government is supposed to play by different (more constrained) rules because it has a monopoly on force. How is this relevant when the government is purchasing the data on the open market? >but it feels like it violates the spirit of the law that says they shouldn't be spying on their citizens. No, the spirit of the law is that the government can't use its monopoly on violence to gather evidence.

janalsncm 3y ago
We can set whatever rules we want for the government. Whether the information is available on the open market doesn’t matter. Government isn’t a force of nature. We could say the government is only allowed to buy data on a Friday the 13th during a full moon if we want.
- gruez 3y ago
  >We can set whatever rules we want for the government. But that's not what was discussed. The comment I replied to was talking about "the spirit of the law", which is separate from what the law ought be today.