[Brinworld] Car's data recorder convicts driver

Steve Schear schear at attbi.com
Wed Jun 18 08:20:44 PDT 2003


At 08:17 2003-06-18 -0400, Adam Shostack wrote:
>| It never makes sense to argue about a "right to lie" or a "right to
>| tell the truth." One man's lie is another man's truth. And even
>| _asking_ for a true response is usually an overstepping, as it presumes
>| the asker knows what is true and what is not. Pilate said it all 2000
>| years ago.
>
>I wasn't arguing, I was quipping.
>
>I find the many meanings of the word privacy to be fascinating.  So
>when someone commented that the car's tattle-box is or isn't a privacy
>invasion, I thought I'd offer up a definition under which it is.
>Its a definition that lots of people use, as John points out.
>
>Perhaps better than 'right' would be 'ability,' 'The ability to lie
>and get away with it.'

Indeed 'privacy' and 'secrecy' are often confused and their meanings 
overlap in many a mind.  I think that most, at least in the West, accept 
that privacy "..is based on rules and trust," for example, records kept on 
us by our doctors.  Because exposure of various aspects of our private 
lives can do lasting damage, privacy is only effective when controlled by 
the party seeking it, who may disclose it or not as they see fit and can 
only be guaranteed when those who would "sell you out" don't possess the 
possibly damaging information.  For that reason among others, I am really 
only interested in privacy mediated by personal secrecy and technologies I 
trust and/or control.

steve 





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