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I'm sure the mafia would love the end of the witness protection program. And fundamentalists of any religion would like to know who exactly is breaking which on

by panzi 12y ago

I'm sure the mafia would love the end of the witness protection program. And fundamentalists of any religion would like to know who exactly is breaking which one of their arbitrary rules and where they live, when their kids go to school etc. Pedophile offenders would like to know when which child is home alone etc. Privacy has a purpose, damn it! These are extreme cases, but they still are about the privacy of people. The article mentioned good less extreme examples. Just who you are voting for is already something you have to hide (in general). If you wouldn't have a right for secret elections you could be forced to vote for a certain candidate or your vote could be bought. Yes, the governments keep things secret that shouldn't be secret (e.g. contracts/agreements with other countries, i.e. how the big countries fuck the little ones). There is a saying: use public data, protect private data. In German: Öffentliche Daten nützen, private Daten schützen. (it rhymes)

munin 12y ago
> I'm sure the mafia would love the end of the witness protection program. if there was truly no privacy, then the Mafia would cease to exist. think this through.
- panzi 12y ago
  The mafia wouldn't care about laws. So the mafia would keep secrets but law abiding citizens wouldn't. So there is a fundamental asymmetry.
collyw 12y ago
Good to see the pedophile argument in here on HN. I thought this was a bit more intelligent than the Daily Mail. Assuming that pedophile offenders didn't have any privacy either, would your problem still exist?
- panzi 12y ago
  The one time when this argument actually works and I use it I'm accused of being as intelligent as the Daily Mail! A criminal only has to investigate one arbitrary innocent. But the innocent (or the police) would have to sieve through the data of all other people. And someone only becomes an offender when it's to late. There is no guarantee that he/she could be recognized as a potential thread in advance. Therefore certain information should be only provided to people you have reason to trust.

by panzi 12y ago

munin 12y ago

> I'm sure the mafia would love the end of the witness protection program. if there was truly no privacy, then the Mafia would cease to exist. think this through.

panzi 12y ago
The mafia wouldn't care about laws. So the mafia would keep secrets but law abiding citizens wouldn't. So there is a fundamental asymmetry.

collyw 12y ago

Good to see the pedophile argument in here on HN. I thought this was a bit more intelligent than the Daily Mail. Assuming that pedophile offenders didn't have any privacy either, would your problem still exist?

panzi 12y ago
The one time when this argument actually works and I use it I'm accused of being as intelligent as the Daily Mail! A criminal only has to investigate one arbitrary innocent. But the innocent (or the police) would have to sieve through the data of all other people. And someone only becomes an offender when it's to late. There is no guarantee that he/she could be recognized as a potential thread in advance. Therefore certain information should be only provided to people you have reason to trust.