China's social network surveillance databases are apparently leaked to Internet

Re:China's social network surveillance databases are apparen... by techie128 on Monday March 04, 2019 @01:52AM (#19299307)

sigh

I don't condone surveillance. It is a reality of life. However, I would expect that it is done responsibly and securely. I don't consider surveillance a big violation BUT doing a poor job at protecting the collected data is an egregious violation of privacy.

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Re:China's social network surveillance databases are apparen... by simonh on Monday March 04, 2019 @03:44AM (#19299735)

The only reason to collect data is to use it and those collecting and storing the data are fully responsible for how it is used. The reasons for collecting and retaining it should be explicitly stated and it should only be used for those purposes. It doesn't matter who is doing it - Facebook, Google, a random web site or a government.

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Re:China's social network surveillance databases are apparen... by stunt on Monday March 04, 2019 @02:14AM (#19299394)

Well, perhaps the fact that you justify surveillance is mostly the result of what those organizations have done around the world.

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Re:China's social network surveillance databases are apparen... by mirimir on Monday March 04, 2019 @02:05AM (#19299360)

Why?

Who will hurt you more than authorities can?

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Re:China's social network surveillance databases are apparen... by ummonk on Monday March 04, 2019 @04:09AM (#19299844)

In the case of the US, the government is bound by due process, at least theoretically, which makes it far less likely to hurt me than private entities.

Granted, that may not be the case when it comes to China.

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Re:China's social network surveillance databases are apparen... by zAy0LfpBZLC8mAC on Monday March 04, 2019 @04:44AM (#19300002)

That's putting the cart before the house. Due process isn't an agent that enforces your rights, due process is a convention of how things are done. Nothing fundamentally prevents anyone from simply not following due process, other than the actual power structure of society, i.e., what people could get away with. That actual power structure depends on stuff like knowing things about people allowing you to control them. To illustrate what I mean: If your opponent can blackmail all judges, there is no due process for you.

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Re:China's social network surveillance databases are apparen... by throw2016 on Monday March 04, 2019 @09:31AM (#19301500)

Due process can also be used to oppress. Totalitarian systems are about 'process'. Customs officers going through your personal papers in US airports like the stasi is 'due process'. Secret courts and secret orders are also 'due process', not being able to speak out against arbitrary gag orders is also 'due process'.

Whistle blowers and activists being harassed, surveilled or infiltrated by law enforcement or not a single person being held to account after the NSA revelations is 'due process'. Users being spied and stalked on by an assortment of SV companies and state agencies via the internet, phones, facial recognition, licence plates do not seem to have access to the basic right to privacy or any recourse to due process.

These binary statements about 'rule of law', 'due process', dissent, democracy comes across as theoretical and disconnected from the complexity and events in the real world.

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Re:China's social network surveillance databases are apparen... by trsfgbb on Monday March 04, 2019 @03:15AM (#19299623)

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Re:China's social network surveillance databases are apparen... by Krasnol on Monday March 04, 2019 @03:53AM (#19299775)

> Government doesn't care about me

Until they do.

Hi from Germany.

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Re:China's social network surveillance databases are apparen... by cf141q5325 on Monday March 04, 2019 @06:35AM (#19300474)

You dont even have to worry only about your own/current government. Take the Netherlands, with detailed census data (conveniently as punchcards) about their population before the German invasion. With the threat of an invasion looming some suggested to at least trike out the information about religious believes. Unfortunately this didnt happen. Amsterdam had one of the highest rates of deported Jews for a reason.

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Re:China's social network surveillance databases are apparen... by PavlovsCat on Monday March 04, 2019 @04:47AM (#19300016)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpvAdeAv8KI&t=1h18m06s

This is the timeline we live in now, this is how it's turning out, this is who we are becoming, and it makes me sick to my stomach.

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