I suspect the scare about privacy has led to muddled thinking. Free speech is a right that strictly limits the government's ability to control what you say. We should have a similar right of privacy from the government. But I give up my free speech "rights" when I attend a college with a wacky speech code or go to work at a company with workplace speech policies. My choices in those situations are governed by my free speech preferences. Similarly, I give up my privacy "rights" when I go to unknown web sites, apply for a loan, or post to Usenet, etc. These also are preferences. I'm surprised not to hear more from other folks here: my position is one cypherpunks have advocated for years -- controlling what data flow from my computer is my responsibility. -Declan On Thu, 12 Jun 1997, Jim Choate wrote:
Hi,
Forwarded message:
Date: Thu, 12 Jun 1997 18:58:37 -0400 From: Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com> Subject: There's no general right to privacy -- get over it, from Netly
likes to say "Privacy is not an absolute right, but a fundamental right." But in truth, privacy is not a right but a preference: Some people want more of it than others.
A right is not a question of popularity or amplitude, it is a question of existance. It is or it isn't. Some people want more guns than others (obvious even to you) so you seriously hold that there is no fundamental Constitutional right to own firearms? Or speech, we don't all want to use it to the same amount, we therefore don't have a right to free speech? Or (oh my god!) crypto, we don't all want to use it to the same degree therefore we don't have a right to use crypto?
Serious boo-boo.
I hope it ain't gone to print yet...
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