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Cyphernomicon 11.11

Surveillance, Privacy, And Intelligence Agencies:
Privacy Laws


  11.11.1. Will proposed privacy laws have an effect?
           + I suspect just the opposite: the tangled web of laws-part
              of the totalitarian freezeout-will "marginalize" more
              people and cause them to seek ways to protect their own
              privacy and protect themselves from sanctions over their
              actions
             + free speech vs. torts, SLAPP suits, sedition charges,
                illegal research, etc.
               - free speech is vanishing under a torrent of laws,
                  licensing requirements, and even zoning rules
             + outlawing of work on drugs, medical procedures, etc.
               - against the law to disseminate information on drug use
                  (MDMA case at Stanford), on certain kinds of birth
                  control
             - "If encrytion is outlawed, only outlaws will have
                encryption."
           + privacy laws are already causing encryption ("file
              protection") to be mandatory in many cases, as with medical
              records, transmission of sensitive files, etc.
             - by itself this is not in conflict with the government
                requirement for tappable access, but the practical
                implementation of a two-tier system-secure against
                civilian tappers but readable by national security
                tappers-is a nightmare and is likely impossible to
                achieve
  11.11.2. "Why are things like the "Data Privacy Laws" so bad?"
           - Most European countries have laws that limit the collection
              of computerized records, dossiers, etc., except for
              approved uses (and the governments themselves and their
              agents).
           - Americans have no such laws. I've heard calls for this,
              which I think is too bad.
           - While we may not like the idea of others compiling dossiers
              on us, stopping them is an even worse situation. It gives
              the state the power to enter businesses, homes, and examine
              computers (else it is completely unenforceable). It creates
              ludicrous situations in which, say, someone making up a
              computerized list of their phone contacts is compiling an
              illegal database! It makes e-mail a crime (those records
              that are kept).
           - they are themselves major invasions of privacy
           - are you going to put me in jail because I have data bases
              of e-mail, Usenet posts, etc.?
           - In my opinion, advocates of "privacy" are often confused
              about this issue, and fail to realize that laws about
              privacy often take away the privacy rights of _others_.
              (Rights are rarely in conflict--contract plus self-privacy
              take care of 99% of situations where rights are purported
              to be in conflict.)
  11.11.3. on the various "data privacy laws"
           - many countries have adopted these data privacy laws,
              involving restrictions on the records that can be kept, the
              registration of things like mailing lists, and heavy
              penalties for those found keeping computer files deemed
              impermissable
           - this leads to invasions of privacy....this very Cypherpunks
              list would have to be "approved" by a bureaucrat in many
              countries...the oportunites (and inevitabilities) of abuse
              are obvious
           - "There is a central contradiction running through the
              dabase regulations proposed by many so-called "privacy
              advocates".  To be enforceable they require massive
              government snooping into database activities on our
              workstatins and PCs,  especially the activities of many
              small at-home businesses (such as mailing list
              entrepreneurs who often work out of the home).
              
              "Thus, the upshot of these so-called "privacy" regulations
              is to destroy our last shreds of privacy against
              government, and calm us into blindly letting even more of
              the details of our personal lives into the mainframes of
              the major government agencies and credit reporting
              agenices, who if they aren't explicitly excepted from the
              privacy laws (as is common) can simply evade them by using
              offshore havesn, mutual agreements with foreign
              investigators, police and intelligence agencies."  [Jim
              Hart, 1994-09-08]
  11.11.4. "What do Cypherpunks think about this?"
           + divided minds...while no one likes being monitored, the
              question is how far one can go to stop others from being
              monitored
             - "Data Privacy Laws" as a bad example: tramples on freedom
                to write, to keep one's computer private
  11.11.5. Assertions to data bases need to be checked (credit,
            reputation, who said what, etc.)
           - if I merely assert that Joe Blow no longer is employed, and
              this spreads...


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