Rant warning!!!!
Normally I stay out of this kind of debate, but just vouldn't resist, this one....
Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
But do you really think that encrypting your data is going to make you look less "guilty"? Anyone in a civilised country has (IMHO) an obligation to cooperate fully with duty constituted authorities, not try to "hide" things from them.
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Rubbish, hiding things does not make you guilty of anything. Everyone should have a right to privacy, and everyone has the right to secrets. No matter who is in power - this kind of rationisation only leads to more invasion of privacy which in turn is giving 'Them' more power. 'They' will then use this philosophy against you, to encroach even further... ' I see sir, you don't mind cameras in the street, but not in your house. So you are theerfore doing something you shouldn't in your house.'. And no matter what anyone says they have no right to put cameras in my house. What next - they want camera in my bathroom and bedroom, watching me on the loo and with my wife. But if I put up a fight, they say I'm obviously trying to do something illegal in my bedroom and/or my toilet.
Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
The UK is hardly a "fascist" state, Bob and, just as in the US, there are strict rules governing who is allowed to demand access to your data.
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Not yet, but it is rapidly getting there with the plethora of minor invasions to your privacy and freedoms being taken away. 'They' are using the bludgeon of safety and anti-terror to slowly erode what you can and can't do inside the constraints of the law. For example 'It's illegal to smoke in a pub' (and I am a non-smoker) on the surface it is a good thing. but still taking away some peoples freedoms - the pub landlord for example who building it is, should have the right to his say on what goes on in his premesis.
Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
The UK is not blessed with the "sue everyone at the drop of a hat" culture that the US enjoys.
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Hogwash - it's not as bad as the US yet, but the compensation culture in the UK is rapidy growing.
Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
You surely don't object to councils using any legal means available to ensure that local people get the services they are entitled to, and that fraudsters are punished, I take it?
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Yeah right - like me paying the council £1500 a year in council tax to live in a house I own for services, Hmmmm lets see, how about the bins for example! I pay for the service but they keep telling me to put less rubbish in them, please don't use the bins more than necessary, god forbid you leave your bin lid a fraction ajar lest you get slapped for a £120 bully boy fine, because you are trying to get rid of your rubbish using a service you pay for. 'Oh, well don't create so much waste then' - Well : what about all the junk posted though my door that I don't want and did not ask for. How about the junk that fills the corner of my garden when it gets blown off the street that the council don't clean properly, meaning I have to put it in my bin, then 'They' now want to charge me extra for taking it away! 'Please help save the world by recyling' This is great and I do try to do my bit, but when I put bottles and cans in the recycle bin they ask me to wash it first - but please save water!!!
The council had no right to spy on people like evil criminals - The PC society we have created has decided that all children have the same right to an education - I have brought my kids up well, to be polite and not swear. Not all parents are like that, and when my daughter goes to school I don't want her behaviour to be ruined by kids that have been brought up with a lower standard than mine. This leads to people wanting their kids to go to other schools than perhaps the system would like ( i.e. the closest school is full of chavs and the council are forcing me to send my nice child there) - this leads to people trying to fake the school system to get their kids the better school - you can't blame them for that - blame the system that says 'If a child is unruly they cannot be expelled'
Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
I'm afraid that I find that a deeply disturbing viewpoint. Speaking as a person who has a number of family members in the police force, I'm very sad to hear that you feel that way about our police.
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The police as idividuals are great. They try their best to do a good job, but their hands are well and truly tied by a system that is more interested in making money than enforcing law. The police system is predominantly desposed toward chasing anything that has a number plate on it and ignoring the rest as much as possible. Instead they ask for more [street] cameras instead of getting more police staff. And you are also forgetting that once the countrywide surveillance is in place, nice governments can be replaced with ones who are not so nice who can then abuse the systems already installed. And police staff do get corrupted.
As to who has rights to view data - well, I remember a distinct example this year of our fantastic government losing CD's full of millions of peoples personal information, simply by accident. You think they couldn't get this data on purpose if they wanted to, whether they had the 'legal' permission or not?
It simple for me - don't put any data anywhere online, or 'They' will get it.
Make your own backups, buy a tape drive from ebay if you must. Encrypt and password protect all your data and password protect your tapes too.
Rant off.
