The Supermen Have Not Been Kind
In Greek Mythology the gods are a breed of superior beings, with all the failings, and frequently less morality, than most human beings.
When our privacy was part taken, part given away, we may have inadvertently created this power relationship for real. Fallible, and frequently unethical people, have the ability to play, or prey on those they want to.
Privacy breaches, allow official organisations to access our data for legitimate reasons, however this access can also be obtained by any individual, or group that takes it upon themselves, to invest in the software to become a super-being.
Those with ethics won’t partake, but many who have no such qualms, will. The net result will be that power lies with those who will use it badly. That they will use that power to peer into people’s lives, and gain some leverage — demonstrates they have all the base hideousness, that exists within humanity, but just amplified.
A terrorist or a criminal has available to them, the same or similar tools that a spy has, because spy software is easily available, hard to detect, and can be sold and purchased legally. Although its products are arguably, as dangerous as guns, the industry is not regulated, is poorly controlled and operates on the open market.
Privacy is a question of power, it’s absence means we gift power, to the unaccountable.
References
Criminal liability for mobile phone spying in NZ
Daily Mail: Domestic Abuse Goes Digital
The Telegraph: Spies attacking British Universities
Computer Weekly: ICO fines charity for data breach
The Baltimore Sun: Stingray Legal Challenge
Popular Science Magazine:This box can figure out your pin code
Commonwealth Law Conference 2015- Session on Privacy
Guest Speakers — Commonwealth Lawyers Association and Privacy International and Julian Assange, encryption and privacy expert and founder of wikileaks
