Comment by nostromo
4 years ago
No need for hypotheticals, 2020 was a huge win for the police state.
The UK and Israel allowed cops to monitor cell phone locations to crack down on unlawful gatherings in private homes.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/17/israel-to-trac...
The problem with allowing this is that you’re paving the way for future tyrants to use it against us.
> The problem with allowing this is that you’re paving the way for future tyrants to use it against us.
It's funny how everybody talk about the future. This is happenning now. Remember how a certain german guy took the power some 90 years ago ? He was elected.
Not your point, but: Technically he was Austrian by birth, stateless sind since 1925 and tried at least 7 times to get German citizenship before elected in 1932.
I trust we live in a different world today, but it is concerning to read about mandated vaccines to get a job and mandated contact-tracing in countries such as Germany.
Apps weren't mandated, restaurants and such are required to request you check in, but people didn't always fill them or otherwise filled them with junk (especially after they were abused)
Why does this surprise anybody?
People nowadays voluntarily carry tracking devices. This will not stop getting worse until that behavior is denormalized.
The power to be gained from abusing it is beyond irresistable. Expecting those in power to not abuse it is like expecting a heroin junkie to be a good pharmacist.
> People nowadays voluntarily carry tracking devices
on the strict premise that tracking is exceptional fair use from a law enforcement agency. Do not mix up the voluntary accolites of Zuck and people who want tools. (The use of 'tools' in the sentence is an originally unintended pun. I will keep the term 'accolites', though tempted to replace it for the pun.)