Comment by aetherson

5 months ago

Those strike me as problematic. It strikes me as a big problem if I've got to navigate some fuzzy line about how much I am perceived to focus on someone every time I take a photo in public. Who decides too much focus is too much? How do they decide? How do I defend my artistic intent for every photo in public?

I understand how if you wave away all concepts of fallibility or enforceability, you can say to people, "It's cool that all this data exists, just don't be creepy," but you can't wave those concepts away.

Ultimately it gets decided the same way all matters of law are ultimately decided: a judge decides. How this is strange to you is strange to me.

  • When you make bad law that involves trying to apply a fuzzy rule to a fuzzy situation, judges make bad calls. And you also make it possible for people to be very harassed by bringing cases to court where it's not possible to easily dismiss them (because the rule is fuzzy and there isn't a clear standard to dismiss) so even if the judge makes a good call, you've punished good behavior.

    • Almost all of our laws fall into this categorizations.

      The idea that laws are clear-cut is largely a programmers fantasy.

      Related: there's a lot of people who think that if you don't technically break the law then you're off the hook.

      Uh, no, not how law works. The letter of the law doesn't matter, the spirit does. Being an asshole but not technically breaking the law is still illegal.

      Yes, that's a lot different than code, isnt it? But it has to be.

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