From: tcmay@got.net (Timothy C. May)
Date: Sun, 18 Feb 1996 11:10:11 +0800
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Privacy and Information Disclosure
Message-ID: <ad4bd1be02021004811b@[205.199.118.202]>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


At 9:57 PM 2/17/96, "A. Padgett Peterson P.E. Information Security"

>ps Tim was correct, believe I *registered* Libertarian that year - do remember
>   not getting invited to vote in any primaries.

Thanks for confirming/acknowledging this.

The larger point, not directed at Padgett is this: people voluntarily
reveal information about themselves, get themselves placed on mailing lists
for like-minded people (such as this list, or the Rose Growers of Alberta
list, etc.), etc., and then they complain that others are compiling data on
them!

The classic example is borrowing money, whether via a credit card (you did
know you're borrowing, didn't you?) or for a conventional bank loan. Most
people who borrow money and then repay the money _want_ this to be known to
other potential lenders...this is what a "credit rating" is all about. Of
course, those who borrow money and then don't repay it are anxious not to
have others know about this situation!

If you don't want to be on a Libertarian Party mailing list, don't register
officially as an LP member. If you don't want a record with the credit card
companies, don't use their credit cards. If you don't want to be a list of
people who buy sexual devices, don't buy them through the mail (or use
money orders, mail drops, etc.). And so on.

What I can't imagine anyone on this list wanting (though apparently some
percentage do want them) are laws which give the illusion of enhancing
privacy by taking away the rights of others. I say "illusion" because The
Ones Who Really Matter will still have the goods on you.

(The Lotus CD-ROM of addresses being the canonical example of this. It was
hailed as a great victory that "the Net" rallied to get Lotus to abandon
plans to sell this CD-ROM to me and thee, where in actuality it just meant
that the sales remained to direct marketers, law enforcement, and the like.
But the Ostrich Syndrome prevailed.)

--Tim May


Boycott espionage-enabled software!
We got computers, we're tapping phone lines, we know that that ain't allowed.
---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:----
Timothy C. May              | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,
tcmay@got.net  408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero
W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA  | knowledge, reputations, information markets,
Higher Power: 2^756839 - 1  | black markets, collapse of governments.
"National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."