Re: PRIVACY is an INHERENT HUMAN RIGHT

Contact the NSA and FBI PSYCHOPATHS at their phone numbers and names posted on this newsgroup in a different thread.

Hey, > If they want to know when my neighbor mows his lawn and waters the > garden, i will let them know. where do we sign up and how much does it > pay? > -- > > > > McG> >> >> > > An official of the Los Angeles County >> > > Sheriff's Department was interviewed >> > > regarding a report that the county >> > > will, sometime this month, begin >> > > utilizing an unmanned "drone" aircraft >> > > for surveillance purposes. In response >> > > to the question that this might create >> > > a "big brother" system, he stated: >> > > "you have nothing to fear from your >> > > own government - you are being watched >> > > by your fellow citizens." >> >> >> >> >> >> Do you guys know that NSA has alleast 50,000 american civilians on >> their payroll COVERTLY SPYING on the REST of the americans ? >> >> How do you know your neighbor is NOT ONE OF THEM ? >> >> >> >> >> >> >> > >> > The Value of Privacy >> > >> > Last month, revelation of yet another NSA surveillance effort >> > against the American people rekindled the privacy debate. Those in >> > favor of these programs have trotted out the same rhetorical >> > question we hear every time privacy advocates oppose ID checks, >> > video cameras, massive databases, data mining, and other wholesale >> > surveillance measures: "If you aren't doing anything wrong, what do >> > you have to hide?" >> > >> > >> > Some clever answers: "If I'm not doing anything wrong, then you >> > have no cause to watch me." "Because the government gets to define >> > what's wrong, and they keep changing the definition." "Because you >> > might do something wrong with my information." My problem with >> > quips like these -- as right as they are -- is that they accept the >> > premise that privacy is about hiding a wrong. It's not. Privacy is >> > an inherent human right, and a requirement for maintaining the >> > human condition with dignity and respect. >> > >> > >> > Two proverbs say it best: "Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?" ("Who >> > watches the watchers?") and "Absolute power corrupts absolutely." >> > >> > >> > Cardinal Richelieu understood the value of surveillance when he >> > famously said, "If one would give me six lines written by the hand >> > of the most honest man, I would find something in them to have him >> > hanged." Watch someone long enough, and you'll find something to >> > arrest -- or just blackmail -- him with. Privacy is important >> > because without it, surveillance information will be abused: to >> > peep, to sell to marketers, and to spy on political enemies -- >> > whoever they happen to be at the time. >> > >> > >> > Privacy protects us from abuses by those in power, even if we're >> > doing nothing wrong at the time of surveillance. >> > >> > >> > We do nothing wrong when we make love or go to the bathroom. We are >> > not deliberately hiding anything when we seek out private places for >> > reflection or conversation. We keep private journals, sing in the >> > privacy of the shower, and write letters to secret lovers and then >> > burn them. Privacy is a basic human need. >> > >> > >> > A future in which privacy would face constant assault was so alien >> > to the framers of the Constitution that it never occurred to them >> > to call out privacy as an explicit right. Privacy was inherent to >> > the nobility of their being and their cause. Of course being >> > watched in your own home was unreasonable. Watching at all was an >> > act so unseemly as to be inconceivable among gentlemen in their >> > day. You watched convicted criminals, not free citizens. You ruled >> > your own home. It's intrinsic to the concept of liberty. >> > >> > >> > For if we are observed in all matters, we are constantly under >> > threat of correction, judgment, criticism, even plagiarism of our >> > own uniqueness. We become children, fettered under watchful eyes, >> > constantly fearful that -- either now or in the uncertain future -- >> > patterns we leave behind will be brought back to implicate us, by >> > whatever authority has now become focused upon our once-private and >> > innocent acts. We lose our individuality, because everything we do >> > is observable and recordable. >> > >> > >> > How many of us have paused during conversations in the past >> > four-and-a-half years, suddenly aware that we might be eavesdropped >> > on? Probably it was a phone conversation, although maybe it was an >> > e-mail or instant message exchange or a conversation in a public >> > place. Maybe the topic was terrorism, or politics, or Islam. We >> > stop suddenly, momentarily afraid that our words might be taken out >> > of context, then we laugh at our paranoia and go on. But our >> > demeanor has changed, and our words are subtly altered. >> > >> > >> > This is the loss of freedom we face when our privacy is taken from >> > us. This was life in the former East Germany, or life in Saddam >> > Hussein's Iraq. And it's our future as we allow an ever-intrusive >> > eye into our personal, private lives. >> > >> > >> > Too many wrongly characterize the debate as "security versus >> > privacy." The real choice is liberty versus control. Tyranny, >> > whether it arises under threat of foreign physical attack or under >> > constant domestic authoritative scrutiny, is still tyranny. Liberty >> > requires security without intrusion, security plus privacy. >> > Widespread police surveillance is the very definition of a police >> > state. And that's why we should champion privacy even when we have >> > nothing to hide. >> > >> > >> > Copyright 2006 by Bruce Schneier. >> > >> > >> > > > -- > Posted via a free Usenet account from
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