At 6:55 AM 11/18/1996, Sandy Sandfort wrote:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SANDY SANDFORT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
C'punks,
On Sun, 17 Nov 1996, Huge Cajones Remailer wrote:
Informally, I don't know anybody who has suffered due to a loss of privacy.
Your circle of associations must be limited.
Examples [of people who have suffered due to loss of privacy]?
Phil Zimmermann often tells the story of a woman whose marriage was destroyed by the revelation of a long-past indiscretion. After her husband divorced her, she committed suicide.
Deceiving your spouse is not a good reason to protect your privacy.
Any number of celebrities have been stalked, attacked and even killed by obsessed fans who found them through public records.
Unfortunately most readers of this list do not have this problem.
Every year, children and business executives are kidnapped for ransom. The proximate cause of these kidnappings is a breach in privacy about the whereabouts and schedules of the victim.
Or this problem.
Hitler's gun registration in Germany allowed the Jews to be disarmed. I'm sure you are aware of the ultimate consequences of that little invasion of privacy.
Not a bad example, but genocide happens rarely. Those alert enough to protect their privacy in advance might be alert enough to get out in time, anyway. Subjective utility: low.
The US Post Office co-operated in the identification and imprisonment of people of Japanese ancestry during the second world war.
97,000 victims over a ~100 year period. Doesn't really show up on the scope, sorry. (Plus downside bad, but few were murdered.)
The problem with having a whole lot of private information about you floating around in public is not what damage it can do to you now, but rather the problems it potentially could cause in the future. Just about everyone on this list has been to university. Not long ago, a college education was essentially a death warrant in Cambodia. Prior to that, a degree was considered a good thing there. People saw no reason to hid the fact that they had been in school. Trouble is, things changed.
And the trouble today is that things can change now, too. Think about the things that you have publicly done or advocated. Even if they are as legal as church on Sunday NOW, how comfortable will you be about them if there is extreme right or left takeover in the future? Start to get the picture?
These things CAN happen. Will they happen? Odds are low. BTW, are you operating under your True Name?