So what? The NSA is harvesting data on an unprecedented scale. It might be legal but it is definitly unethical.
Whether the initial reports were 100% accurate or not is irrelevant. What does matter is that this now out in the open and hopefully something changes.
The ethics of data collection in the age of people sharing all sorts of information with Google, Facebook, etc, are not a clear cut thing.
Moreover, it's not meaningless whether its illegal or not. Indeed, it makes all the difference in the world. Laws can be changed if we don't like their outcomes--a government that's ignoring the law is something else entirely.
> The ethics of data collection in the age of people sharing all sorts of information with Google, Facebook, etc, are not a clear cut thing.
It is a peculiar brand of corporatism that thinks the privileges afforded to corporations should somehow be considered when talking about the privileges given to governments. Quite the opposite of what one normally sees, but still curiously the same.
I'm not talking about privileges, I'm talking about the nature of what is "private information." I don't think the ethics of the government collecting information you share with people on Facebook you might have met once, along with god knows how many employees at Facebook, Google, etc, are clear cut.
And I say that how we should treat Facebook collecting data and how we should treat governments collecting data (even data from Facebook) are entirely disjoint. Anything else is a peculiar brand of corporatism.
You realize that when you call something "a peculiar brand of corporatism", you're saying something equivalent to "a label that thus far exists only in my mind".
Is there a more direct, refutable way you could construct your claim? How would anyone falsify your argument otherwise? You know what else is a (very) peculiar brand of corporatism? "Not corporatism".
I suppose I did not spell this out clear enough for you.
A traditional corporatist could be accused of trying to bring corporations up to the same level as governments. Rayiner seems to be playing at the idea of bringing governments up to the level of corporations. Despite appearing to be opposing positions, it should not take a rocket scientist to find the common ground.
Of course if you have no interest in doing so, it should not be surprising that you won't.
As long as we're playing at labels, I am a socialist and you are a goddamned idiot. There is no such thing as a corporatist. You're just using it as a nasty word to accuse your debate opponents of malicious intentions.
Back to the point: people freely give their personal data to Facebook. Facebook now knows that information and can publish it, sell it, whatever. The people have no expectation of privacy which would be necessary for a 4th Amendment defense. Anybody can go to Facebook and just ask for the data, government agents included. It is Facebook's choice to give it away, set a price, or refuse.
I'm not talking about how we treat Facebook collecting data versus the government collecting data. I'm talking about how we treat the government collecting data that we freely give to Facebook versus how we treat data that we keep under our mattress. How do you define the ethics of privacy with respect to Facebook posts that have a wider audience than if you had posted something on a bulletin board in your office.
So the reporter says there was an elephant in the room, but instead of an elephant, it was two donkeys. The reporter gets it wrong, but what about the two donkeys? What the hell are they doing in that room?
Whether the initial reports were 100% accurate or not is irrelevant. What does matter is that this now out in the open and hopefully something changes.