2 ms·

You're making an argument which is a variant of "if I'm not doing anything wrong, then I have nothing to hide." Privacy is a worthwhile value in and of itself,

You're making an argument which is a variant of "if I'm not doing anything wrong, then I have nothing to hide." Privacy is a worthwhile value in and of itself, not least of which because different people have different notions of what "wrong" is and their conception of "wrong" changes over the course of their life. An example list of completely legal transactions which you might not want someone in your life knowing about: a) You don't want your spouse to know that you bought some beers / fast food / pornographic magazines / cigarettes / other vice b) You don't want your employer to know that you saw a therapist / oncologist / family planning services c) You don't want your parents to know that you bought contraception d) You don't want your car insurance provider to know that you purchased a repair from a mechanic (i.e. you don't want your rates increased). Making payments in cash is making a decision for them not to be entered in some database which may be hacked and sold for profit to someone who values their interests more than your privacy.

nonrandomstring 3y ago
With respect, you're reading too much intent into my words. I am vehemently pro-privacy. In fact I seriously consider over-intrusive authoritarianism to be a mental health disorder and have read somewhat into the works of Adorno etc [0,1] (cue a dozen responses bemoaning how everything done at Berkeley in the 1960s is now-debunked leftist rubbish) Part of that is helping people to have a realistic but not paranoid view of technological society. My work also means I help people who have serious crimes or security issues to solve, and have legitimate investigatory needs. I think privacy violations are not rooted in economic greed, but in unboundaried, controlling impulses that get encoded into technology. Hope I am responding respectfully and appropriately, sorry if I got you wrong. BTW, in a safe way (ie not online) take one of those "authoritarian personality tests". It will shock you how much we have hidden in ourselves just ready to be provoked by demagogues or disinformation. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Authoritarian_Personality https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Authoritarian_Personality [1] https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/rethinking-mental-health/201711/what-you-can-expect-authoritarian https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/rethinking-mental-he...

nonrandomstring 3y ago

With respect, you're reading too much intent into my words. I am vehemently pro-privacy. In fact I seriously consider over-intrusive authoritarianism to be a mental health disorder and have read somewhat into the works of Adorno etc [0,1] (cue a dozen responses bemoaning how everything done at Berkeley in the 1960s is now-debunked leftist rubbish) Part of that is helping people to have a realistic but not paranoid view of technological society. My work also means I help people who have serious crimes or security issues to solve, and have legitimate investigatory needs. I think privacy violations are not rooted in economic greed, but in unboundaried, controlling impulses that get encoded into technology. Hope I am responding respectfully and appropriately, sorry if I got you wrong. BTW, in a safe way (ie not online) take one of those "authoritarian personality tests". It will shock you how much we have hidden in ourselves just ready to be provoked by demagogues or disinformation. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Authoritarian_Personality https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Authoritarian_Personality [1] https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/rethinking-mental-health/201711/what-you-can-expect-authoritarian https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/rethinking-mental-he...