How Important Is Privacy?
If you asked the average person, they would typically say privacy is very important. That is what makes several developments across the United States and Canada so troubling. Here are two recent cases.
- A judge threw out a lawsuit by the ACLU and the EFF against several telcos. The lawsuit was filed as a result of the assistance they provided to the government in its warrantless wiretapping campaign. He cited the law passed by Congress granting immunity from lawsuits to the telcos.
- A Canadian victim’s rights group called Victim’s of Crime has asked their government to force ISP’s to provide law enforcement with users’ data on demand. They blame the internet for the rise of abuse against children.
In the case of the new US law granting the telcos immunity from lawsuits, it cites the need to track terrorists and cyber-criminals. As for the Canadian group, the desire is to protect children.
At face value, these are very noble goals. However, will governments use these laws to spy on its citizens? Will powerful groups (RIAA, MPAA, etc.) use these laws to force ISP’s to give out private user data? These are the questions we must ask ourselves.