Comment by stevehawk

8 years ago

Why? Releasing the data to the government creates Big Brother. I thought we were all against that?

Now you've created a corporate Big Brother, who is hell bent on pure profits and doesn't even have to answer to you in the elections. Is that better?

  • Yes? Government Big Brother can put me in jail just because a cell phone record said I was near a crime while being committed. Corporate Big Brother can only make money from me.

    • Here the difference shows pretty clearly, as I would trust the government more than any company. Government serves the people, while companies mostly care just about profit. Any of companies' privacy concerns are related to legal and PR risks.

      Being from Northern Europe, I do feel I have a good reason to trust the government. It's a machine that is working for my benefit, with my tax money, and is held accountable via my votes.

      4 replies →

    • > Corporate Big Brother can only make money from me. reply

      Equifax is a private corporation yet can do more harm than just making money, with little accountability.

    • What stops Corporate Brother from voluntarily sharing/selling/giving data to the government out of patriotism? Or for some help in exchange. Especially if done unofficially.

Contrasted to Palantir, Facebook, cambridge analytica and private firms working for NSA?

Ironically, governments are somewhat still under democratic control... somewhat.

Corporations are completely authoritarian, and by design.

Well, such a release should of course be limited, regulated and with oversight. But I'd argue that at least police should have some possibility to get at customer data, even without opt-in.

Release of privacy-sensitive data to other companies should strictly be by clear customer opt-in, with clear limits on its use. And even some of that should be forbidden for semi-monopolies such as telecom providers.