Re:Montana city asks for social network logins on job applic...
by Derrek on Saturday June 20, 2009 @11:55AM
(#666503)
I like your enthusiasm for having tech solve societal problems. And I can see your point but, as an incurable optimist, I still have to believe that one person can make a difference. (Yeah, yeah cue the orchestra with inspirational music.) Plus, it's not like the ACLU is one person.
But why not attack the problem from multiple points? Attack with both a legal and technological response.
The tools of change are technological, not legal. Instead of trying to change the law, render it obsolete and utterly unenforcable, and "win" by fait accompli.
I feel a similar way about file sharing. I personally believe very strongly that the ability to send arbitrary files to arbitrary recipients unmolested is a right akin to free speech. But there is no point trying to "beat the system". The solution is to invent technology which renders the law an unenforcable joke.
It's a great time to be a programmer. The tools and opportunity to change the future course of events are right in front of us, to a degree far in excess of what your average non-billionaire voter (or lawyer) could ever enjoy.
We don't need more individual lawsuits. We need plausible deniability implemented in social networks, at a stroke rendering unreliable the whole practise of evaluating someone by their online activities. Sounds like a challenge to me!