/. : Feds Have Access To Cellphone Tracking On Request

Shachar Shemesh shachar at shemesh.biz
Mon Nov 26 12:51:28 CET 2007


flexd wrote:
> Wow that's alot of replies for something i wrote so quickly.
> I didn't really mean it all seriously, and im all for being
> untrackable and all, like you guys say.
>
> But if they wanna track me, then fine, they can if they want.
>
> I just pity the fool that's gonna sit and monitor my boring life.
The purpose of privacy is not to protect the majority from being snooped
on. The majority is immune from tracking, simply for not stepping out of
line. The purpose of privacy is precisely so that people CAN step out of
line. Most of the people who do not conform to what is called "standard
practices" at the time are weirdos, imbalanced or criminals, but every
once in a while the people stepping out of line is doing so because they
truly and honestly see something the majority doesn't. If they persist
enough, their "non conformist" behavior of today will become the norm
tomorrow, simply by dint of it being better.

And this is where giving up privacy really hurts everyone, as a society.
It makes stepping out of the norm even more difficult than it already
is, and thus sells our tomorrow for some theoretical gains today.

If people were discouraged from stepping out of line 20 years ago, we
wouldn't have free software today.

Shachar




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