@zwhittaker
"Considering the posts last week regarding the Patriot Act, do you trust Facebook, Microsoft, Google et al with your data?"
Not even caring about the Patriot Act, I do not trust Facebook, Microsoft, Google et al with my data. But to do business, surf the web, use a smart phone, etc. . . there is little choice until some laws are passed that give the consumer a bit more protection.
I am more concerned about companies like Apple (and others) collecting my personal data on their smart phones and then selling it to those I would never have allowed. That is of much more concern to me than the government perusing all the tripe posted on Facebook.
I am not concerned in the slightest that the Chinese (or any government) will conquer the world based on what gets posted on Facebook.
Sally posted to her facebook today, "I love oranges for breakfast. I had two today." And the governments of the world, using the Patriot act to gather Facebook postings, cornered the market on Oranges.
Lets get real. Most of what is posted on Facebook is tripe.
Concerning Julian Assange, it is the ramblings of a deeply flawed person trying to justify their depravity.
Most criminals in prison do the same thing. Most criminals out of prison do the same thing to justify their questionable actions. I am not saying the person is a criminal (though I think that in the end they may be proven to be just as guilty of being depraved), just pointing out that those who have an extremely flexible concept of morality often justify their actions and the studies of depraved criminals is a perfect example.
There is a huge difference between looking at my family photos and via the GPS tag data learning where my parents live (and their location can be found via google search or using the old white pages) and releasing secret government documents that could have alerted Bin Laden that the US Government new the identity of his currier (yes it has hit the press that some of the wikileak docs did divulge that the currier?s id was blown. In those docs was also info that 'one place the US was looking for Bin Laden is in Abbottabad' which is where Bin Laden was found. It has come out that the US government was extremely concerned that this leak of secret info may have alerted Bin Laden and could have caused him to flee).
There is a huge difference between a government getting access to my personal data on Facebook (less data than I give them every time I get a license, passport, file taxes, census, etc. . . .) and someone divulging secret information that could cost the lives of many, many people.
This morality should not be ambiguous.
How does the author feel about all the CCTV that gathers info about his UK movements every time he goes outside?
I do think that wikileaks could have been beneficial to society but the person who is running it seems to be just as much of a sociopath as any who are in jail, he simply did not show his depravity through direct violence but instead through indirect damage. It is still just as depraved.
It is too bad that wikileaks took the direction that it went; it could have been very beneficial for society. I do believe that many secrets that Governments have should not necessarily be secrets, but who decides? Wikileaks? Julian Assange? You? Me? The bloke down the street that flipped you the bird this morning?
The French can lock up a suspect, not give them access to any legal council, interrogate the suspect for days on end (non stop) without bathroom access, without letting the suspect sleep, etc. . . .and you are worried about the Patriot act allowing the US Government to read about who posts what on Facebook?
Massive amounts of slavery still goes on in many parts of the world, and you seem deeply concerned about the Patriot act letting the Government have access to your Google info. . . .just what is it that you have been telling Google that you do not want the Governments of the world to know?
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