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by MAGZine 4218 days ago
Did you even read the article? We shouldn't demand it because of privacy concerns. Same reason we don't have phone companies screen all of our phonecalls. Because we're not guilty until proven innocent.

Besides, then things like encryption become questionable. If the ISP can't screen your data, what's to stop them from kicking you off their network? Who knows what illegal things you're doing if they can't validate it themselves.

Not to mention that end-user companies don't have all of the keys either. If a screenplay writer googles "how to murder wife" and "how to get away with murder" and "disposal of body", what is google to do? Notify authorities? This is surely the wrong course of action.
2 comments
zimbatm 4218 days ago
It's the same. In you're making a big enough transaction your bank is going to get flagged and look into your banking activity. How is that not a breach of privacy too ?

Privacy is a continuum.

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dghf 4218 days ago
It is a breach of privacy, and it has some unpleasant side-effects:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/26/us/law-lets-irs-seize-acco...

Accompanying HN thread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8509500

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LLWM 4218 days ago
It's so obviously wrong, in fact, that suggesting this is the level of stupidity things would actually be implemented with is a bit of a strawman. A false positive rate of 99.99% isn't useful to anybody. You'd also monitor their netflix history to see if they're just reading up on something they saw on Dexter or Breaking Bad last night, you'd look at searches around the same time period to guess the intent more accurately, you'd have a general psychological profile built up to determine whether they're actually unstable, and you'd have purchase records that would help establish a baseline for how likely it is that they could actually pose a threat to anyone. And that's just what a layman thought of in two minutes. DHS has actual professionals working on this as their job.
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moe 4218 days ago
You'd also monitor their netflix history [...] guess the intent [...] have a general psychological profile [...] have purchase records

DHS has actual professionals working on this

And what could possibly go wrong with that kind of power in the hands of "DHS professionals"...

Is that the world you want to live in?

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LLWM 4218 days ago
Yes, it is. Isn't that obvious from my tone?
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