Wiretapping, Privacy Law and groceries...
The US Government wants to be able to do wiretapping (or should we say webtapping :-)) on internet telephony just as it can on the conventional land line phones. The US Government is supporting the development of a new technology which can be used to wiretap internet telephony.
Researchers of the George Mason University have collected a quarter of a million euros subsidized funding to perfect this technology, which already exists. In fact, it has been successfully tested on one of the most famous internet telephony programs used today, Skype. According to the US government, the technology will be deployed in the battle against terrorism and crime.
I don't know how it is in the US, but I know in Europe and especially in The Netherlands there is a complicated Privacy Law which protects the privacy of the civilian. That way, the government or companies can not give privacy information to a third party and there are rules to which the government and companies have to comply if they want to store information on a citizen or a client. This law protects the citizen or the client to a great extend.
But how far can you go with this protection? Do you keep this law intact for the sake of the protection of people who are really doing nothing wrong and therefore have nothing to hide, while people who do not have such good intentions can abuse this law and communicate and plan all kinds of horrific things, like a terrorist attack?
Which part is weighing heavier in the community, protecting your identity and your personal information, and thus also terrorist, or the ability to track down terrorist and prevent attacks because you know about them on forehand through the wiretapping?
It's hard. Cause when you ask somebody in a country which has not experienced any hostility and hasn't had any attacks on their soil, it's probably hard for them to understand that giving up some privacy is necessary in order to keep the country more safe.
But would you ask somebody in say New York or London, they'll probably be glad to give up some parts of their privacy in order to be able to get on the subway to go to work in the morning without breaking out in a sweat and wondering on every backpack that gets carried on if it contains a bom or just today's groceries.....
Researchers of the George Mason University have collected a quarter of a million euros subsidized funding to perfect this technology, which already exists. In fact, it has been successfully tested on one of the most famous internet telephony programs used today, Skype. According to the US government, the technology will be deployed in the battle against terrorism and crime.
I don't know how it is in the US, but I know in Europe and especially in The Netherlands there is a complicated Privacy Law which protects the privacy of the civilian. That way, the government or companies can not give privacy information to a third party and there are rules to which the government and companies have to comply if they want to store information on a citizen or a client. This law protects the citizen or the client to a great extend.
But how far can you go with this protection? Do you keep this law intact for the sake of the protection of people who are really doing nothing wrong and therefore have nothing to hide, while people who do not have such good intentions can abuse this law and communicate and plan all kinds of horrific things, like a terrorist attack?
Which part is weighing heavier in the community, protecting your identity and your personal information, and thus also terrorist, or the ability to track down terrorist and prevent attacks because you know about them on forehand through the wiretapping?
It's hard. Cause when you ask somebody in a country which has not experienced any hostility and hasn't had any attacks on their soil, it's probably hard for them to understand that giving up some privacy is necessary in order to keep the country more safe.
But would you ask somebody in say New York or London, they'll probably be glad to give up some parts of their privacy in order to be able to get on the subway to go to work in the morning without breaking out in a sweat and wondering on every backpack that gets carried on if it contains a bom or just today's groceries.....
posted by Pasquinel at 10:14 PM
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