Re:NSA Buys Americans' Internet Data Without Warrants, Uncla...
by lmm on Friday January 26, 2024 @12:19AM
(#39139187)
> The government is bound by the fourth amendment.
The fourth amendment is a restriction on the government's ability to search or seize - things that a regular private entity is not permitted to do at all, that represent an enormously abusable power. I don't see how buying public information fits into that.
> if people cannot have privacy because companies can coerce and buy so much information about them, then that too is a violation that should be illegal.
Perhaps. But looking to ban the government from buying that information on the open market is putting the cart before the horse. If the problem is our private information being sold, let's look for a fix for that that would protect us from large companies or wealthy individuals with a grudge, rather than focusing narrowly on the government.
The fourth amendment is a restriction on the government's ability to search or seize - things that a regular private entity is not permitted to do at all, that represent an enormously abusable power. I don't see how buying public information fits into that.
> if people cannot have privacy because companies can coerce and buy so much information about them, then that too is a violation that should be illegal.
Perhaps. But looking to ban the government from buying that information on the open market is putting the cart before the horse. If the problem is our private information being sold, let's look for a fix for that that would protect us from large companies or wealthy individuals with a grudge, rather than focusing narrowly on the government.