Re: [gentoo-user] [OT] Mozilla & Google behind the scenes payola

[Matt Randolph <mattr@erols.com>]

Holly Bostick wrote:

>Surfing the Internet is a lot like walking down the street.
>  
>

Do you think Jane and John Doe computer users know that?  Do you think 
they know that what they do in Word and Outlook is private, and what 
they do in Internet Explorer is public?  It's only the distance of an 
inch on the computer screen between the icons.  How could they possibly 
know it makes a whole world of difference?

>You can see me. The fact of my existence is not private.
>
>Because you can physically see me, you know a lot of things about me
>already.
>...
>All of this information is *personal*, but *not* "private",
>  
>

If you saw someone following you in the street, writing down your every 
action, documenting what you bought and at which stores you bought it 
at...  If you saw someone recording public but personal information 
about you as you went about your business in public, would you not call 
the police?  What if someone was peering through the window of your home 
yet did it while standing on the public right of way (the sidewalk)?  
What if they had binoculars and a camera?  Have you given up all of your 
rights to privacy in your home by opening your curtains?  If you had any 
sense you would call the police on anyone who did any of those things to 
you because that is harassment and it is none of their goddamned 
business.  It is YOUR business and when all is said and done it is one 
of the few things in this world that you truly have.

How are these business practices fundamentally any different?  Are they 
different somehow because these companies can conduct their surveillance 
invisibly?  Does that somehow make it excusable?

>These issues are indeed worthy of watching (business practices usually
>are), but honestly, don't we have higher-priority "privacy" and security
>issues on our plates?
>
>Holly
>

Do you plan to worry about spying by corporations later on, after they 
have essentially created an easement through your personal business?  
What part of trying to preserve your fundamental right to privacy is not 
vitally important right now? 
-- 
gentoo-user@gentoo.org mailing list