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When it Comes To Privacy, Consent is Immaterial. Corporate and Gov't Surveillance Systems Must Be Stopped Before They Ask For Consent: Richard Stallman (theguardian.com)

In a rare op-ed, Richard Stallman, the president of the Free Software Foundation, says that the surveillance imposed on us today is worse than in the Soviet Union. He argues that we need laws to stop this data being collected in the first place. From his op-ed: The surveillance imposed on us today far exceeds that of the Soviet Union. For freedom and democracy's sake, we need to eliminate most of it. There are so many ways to use data to hurt people that the only safe database is the one that was never collected. Thus, instead of the EU's approach of mainly regulating how personal data may be used (in its General Data Protection Regulation or GDPR), I propose a law to stop systems from collecting personal data.

The robust way to do that, the way that can't be set aside at the whim of a government, is to require systems to be built so as not to collect data about a person. The basic principle is that a system must be designed not to collect certain data, if its basic function can be carried out without that data. Data about who travels where is particularly sensitive, because it is an ideal basis for repressing any chosen target.

3 of 266 comments (clear)

  1. "In a rare op-ed, Richard Stallman..." by JoeyRox · · Score: 4, Funny

    Perhaps it's rare for him to write an op-ed himself, but Stallman's opinions being transcribed into published words is about as rare as picnics in the summer.

  2. Re:Useless battle by HornWumpus · · Score: 4, Funny

    It left the station back when the data was still kept on index cards.

    Poison the well, every chance you get.

    --
    John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
  3. Re:Easy to get consent by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Jokes on them if they think their getting the better end of the deal if the take my first born child in any exchange for service of any kind.