4 ms·

Fine, replace child pornography with a text file containing your name, birthday, social security number, credit card details, email password and mother's maiden

by Leszek 14y ago

Fine, replace child pornography with a text file containing your name, birthday, social security number, credit card details, email password and mother's maiden name, the argument is the same.

lmm 14y ago
There would be no crime in possessing such a file, nor should there be. It would and should be criminal to use it to impersonate me, or to access my emails without permission.
- chii 14y ago
  > There would be no crime in possessing such a file, nor should there be. exactly. There should be no crime in mere possession of information. It may be a crime to use that information in ways you are not allowed - for example, the above file of personal information, if copied off my machine by somebody who i didn't authorize, and then that person used it to do something, i have grounds (and the state has grounds) to pursue criminal activity. Now swap that with any information that is deemed "illegal" in society these days, and the same arguments should apply.
aes256 14y ago
As lmm says, I don't have any issue with someone possessing that info. Security through obscurity is folly, and it is only as a result of incompetent security procedures that someone could cause harm with these pieces of information.
- CJefferson 14y ago
  Could you please post all that info in a reply to this message then please?
  - aes256 14y ago
    There is a significant difference between someone else possessing this information, and actively distributing the information myself. I would prefer not to have people possess the information (because I am beholden to institutions that, unfortunately, rely on security through obscurity and have abysmal security procedures) but I don't support criminal sanctions against people if they do happen to come into possession of it. The criminal sanctions should only cover abuse of the information. If you possess my credit card information and do nothing with it, then I don't have a problem with that. If you use it to make unauthorized purchases, or use the information to blackmail or harass me, then you should face criminal sanctions for the harm caused by those actions. Simply possessing the information doesn't cause me any harm.

by Leszek 14y ago

Fine, replace child pornography with a text file containing your name, birthday, social security number, credit card details, email password and mother's maiden name, the argument is the same.

lmm 14y ago

There would be no crime in possessing such a file, nor should there be. It would and should be criminal to use it to impersonate me, or to access my emails without permission.

chii 14y ago
> There would be no crime in possessing such a file, nor should there be. exactly. There should be no crime in mere possession of information. It may be a crime to use that information in ways you are not allowed - for example, the above file of personal information, if copied off my machine by somebody who i didn't authorize, and then that person used it to do something, i have grounds (and the state has grounds) to pursue criminal activity. Now swap that with any information that is deemed "illegal" in society these days, and the same arguments should apply.

aes256 14y ago

As lmm says, I don't have any issue with someone possessing that info. Security through obscurity is folly, and it is only as a result of incompetent security procedures that someone could cause harm with these pieces of information.

CJefferson 14y ago
Could you please post all that info in a reply to this message then please?
- aes256 14y ago
  There is a significant difference between someone else possessing this information, and actively distributing the information myself. I would prefer not to have people possess the information (because I am beholden to institutions that, unfortunately, rely on security through obscurity and have abysmal security procedures) but I don't support criminal sanctions against people if they do happen to come into possession of it. The criminal sanctions should only cover abuse of the information. If you possess my credit card information and do nothing with it, then I don't have a problem with that. If you use it to make unauthorized purchases, or use the information to blackmail or harass me, then you should face criminal sanctions for the harm caused by those actions. Simply possessing the information doesn't cause me any harm.