Comment by eqvinox

6 years ago

You probably need an SS or Stasi (Nazi / East German secret police) to get people to actually understand and value their privacy. It's just too invisible and intangible of a thing to properly recognize and value, without the "aid" of losing it and experiencing the result.

It's a bit like news sensationalism. It just doesn't get processed because it doesn't trigger your brain's "simple" circuitry. Since you don't notice Google or Facebook building their huge databases with all kinds of information about you, it seems like it doesn't concern you. It doesn't hurt and in most cases doesn't incite fear. And you can't quite hump or eat it either.

Maybe we need some huge privacy disaster to learn this the "hard" way. Seems preferable to a bout of fascism at least. I'm not sure how else we can make headway on this. (And don't get me started on GDPR... it's an annoying dialog box that people click "Accept" on.)

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eqvinox

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watwut  6 years ago

The loss of privacy was not the issue with SS. Then being elite soldiers of group that believed in lack of empathy, domination and valued ruthlessness and loyalty above all else was.

Likewise, the issue with Stasi was torturing, imprisoning and killing people.

I get what you mean, but there is too long slippery slope between privacy on web and these. And they did not slide that way anyway.

  • eqvinox  6 years ago

    Sorry, I should've been more clear on what I meant with the SS. Some (dutch, I think?) cities had registrations of their citizens with religious affiliation listed. The SS got a hold of that "database" and used it for their purposes.

    As far as the Stasi is concerned, I just disagree with you. The Stasi was really about gathering as much information as they could get their hands on. They didn't have to torture people, blackmail was much easier for them.

    And, yeah, neither of these is connected to web privacy. I'm trying to make the argument that privacy is just hard to grasp. "People care more about privacy than they think." You don't notice till it's gone. SS and Stasi were wholly different situations, but at least for the latter it had the effect of people understanding the value of privacy. GDR citizens knew the Stasi was surveilling them. They knew saying certain things would mean they'd never get their children into university, or they'd just lose their place on the waiting list for a car. The effects were close enough to be noticed.

    They aren't on the web.