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Originally Posted by willravel
The way I see it is if this is so harmless, then why do we have any privacy at all?
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I am not saying the governemnt asking for and receiving the records is "so" harmless - I just ask the question about who was harmed and how? If I get a better understanding of that, then I can determine how to react. Looking at the big picture, if no one got hurt - I think government resources are better used fighting real crimes involving real victims.
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Why do we have passwords on e-mail and pin numbers for ATM machines? To me the answer is simple: a level of privacy is necessary in order to remain individual in a representative democracy.
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I think the opposite is true. In order to remain individual in a representative democracy one has to forgo certain privacies. An extreme example - if you have a child, you can not keep its birth private, the community has a right to know and a right to know if your the Dad, can't keep that private either, and a right to take money out of your check to support the child if needed, therfore you can't keep your income private. Also being in a representative democracy requires certain sacrifices for the good of the whole at the expense of the individual (I think that saying was in a Star Trek movie - but its true)
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I see the forced and/or secret release of my private information as a breach of my right to be an individual. I see this as being similar to warrentless entry into homes or businesses. The government takes information that is not free to be taken, and then tries to excuse it under the tactic of stopping terrorism.
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If the info was "so" private and "so" valuable to the individual why was the infor given to the phone company? For those who really want privacy, don't use a common carrier. I don't think 99.9999% of the population cares what AT&T does with the records of phone calls made and recieved
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How could the government be stopping terrorism by going through my AT&T records? Maybe we should do away with warrents altogether so as to save us from terrorism.
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Before I worry about phone records, I want to stop: Speed traps/red light cameras/sting operations/IRS audits/payroll tax deductions/spam/etc./etc/etc
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The damage that these actions are doing is not only present, but far reaching. If my phone and e-mail records are not safe, then what information is? The harm is that we have laws that protect our privacy, and those laws are being broken. I recognise and respect that you do not need your privacy. I am not that way. My right to privacy, at least on some level, is an inaliable right. I see the taking of my privacy as a travesty and a betrayel.
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Iwould never assume any phone conversation/email/public comment/written communication is "safe". With today's technology anyone can being in on just about everything I do and say. The only real safety is that - nobody really cares. However, if I started talking or writing about doing something against a "high value" target, today, at somepoint it is going to get someone's attension.