www/philosophy surveillance-vs-democracy.html

[Richard M. Stallman]

CVSROOT:        /web/www
Module name:    www
Changes by:     Richard M. Stallman <rms>       15/09/01 20:22:06

Modified files:
        philosophy     : surveillance-vs-democracy.html 

Log message:
        Avoid "PATRIOT" as name of law.
        Refer to deeper dangers of the "internet of things".

CVSWeb URLs:
http://web.cvs.savannah.gnu.org/viewcvs/www/philosophy/surveillance-vs-democracy.html?cvsroot=www&r1=1.33&r2=1.34

Patches:
Index: surveillance-vs-democracy.html
===================================================================
RCS file: /web/www/www/philosophy/surveillance-vs-democracy.html,v
retrieving revision 1.33
retrieving revision 1.34
diff -u -b -r1.33 -r1.34
--- surveillance-vs-democracy.html      16 Jul 2015 14:27:15 -0000      1.33
+++ surveillance-vs-democracy.html      1 Sep 2015 20:22:05 -0000       1.34
@@ -390,7 +390,7 @@
 the <a 
href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/06/nsa-phone-records-verizon-court-order";>U.S.
 does
 with some or all phone companies</a>.  We would have to rely on
 prohibiting that by law.  However, that would be better than the
-current situation, where the relevant law (the PATRIOT Act) does not
+current situation, where the relevant law (the PAT RIOT Act) does not
 clearly prohibit the practice.  In addition, if the government did
 resume this sort of surveillance, it would not get data about
 everyone's phone calls made prior to that time.</p>
@@ -449,8 +449,15 @@
 It is far more than we experienced in the 1990s,
 and <a 
href="http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2013/06/your_iphone_works_for_the_secret_police.html";>far
 more than people behind the Iron Curtain experienced</a> in the 1980s,
-and would still be far more even with additional legal limits on state
-use of the accumulated data.</p>
+and proposed legal limits on state use of the accumulated data would
+not alter that.</p>
+
+<p>Companies are designing even more intrusive surveillance.  Some
+project that pervasive surveillance, hooked to companies such as
+Facebook, could have deep effects
+on <a 
href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/aug/10/internet-of-things-predictable-people";>how
+people think</a>.  Such possibilities are imponderable; but the threat
+to democracy is not speculation.  It exists and is visible today.</p>
 
 <p>Unless we believe that our free countries previously suffered from
 a grave surveillance deficit, and ought to be surveilled more than the
@@ -514,7 +521,7 @@
 
 <p class="unprintable">Updated:
 <!-- timestamp start -->
-$Date: 2015/07/16 14:27:15 $
+$Date: 2015/09/01 20:22:05 $
 <!-- timestamp end -->
 </p>
 </div>