Re:How Signal Walks the Line Between Anarchism and Pragmatism
by tptacek on Monday July 24, 2023 @10:49PM
(#36857238)
The authors of the Declaration of Independence are also the authors of the Constitution, premised in part on English Common Law, in which the public is entitled to every man's evidence.
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Re:How Signal Walks the Line Between Anarchism and Pragmatism
by schoen on Monday July 24, 2023 @11:55PM
(#36857677)
I think "entitled to every man's evidence" means that there is a compulsory subpoena power to make people testify. One can call a hostile witness, and in the absence of a corresponding privilege against testifying, the witness can be punished for refusing to testify, as a contemnor (or for testifying falsely, as a perjuror).
This idea is distinct from search and covert eavesdropping powers, which may have also existed at common law but perhaps not under that same principle?
Re:How Signal Walks the Line Between Anarchism and Pragmatism
by tptacek on Tuesday July 25, 2023 @05:16PM
(#36869710)
Yeah, I don't think the public claim to every person's evidence vindicates dragnet surveillance! I think these are complicated issues, we can make our own policy decisions and we can find a right to privacy even if one didn't exist at the time of the founders.
I'm just reacting to the notion that we've departed from the principles of the founders by giving law enforcement access to evidence. My impression, from the bit of reading I've done, is that wouldn't have shocked the conscience of the founders at all.
Re:How Signal Walks the Line Between Anarchism and Pragmatism
by wolverine876 on Tuesday July 25, 2023 @02:56AM
(#36858883)
I'm not sure how you mean to apply that idea. If you mean that it balances the right of privacy, that seems like a stretch to apply to encryption. My evidence might be in my head, for example. Nothing stops me from burning records unless they already are potential evidence in an active case. I could delete this comment.