Privacy is many things, and Jim is pretty much on the wrong track on all of them. I haven't seen such babble since undergraduate crit-lit classes. Privacy means different things to different people, societies, cultures. It is analytically different when we're talking about privacy from police surveillance, civil agency data collection, and contracts with corporations that may offer you incentives to disclose information. These concepts should be obvious to anyone who's spent more than a few weeks on cpunx. -Declan On Sat, Jun 02, 2001 at 10:01:16AM -0500, Jim Choate wrote: > It is the ability to hide from disclosure. > > Is it a right? > > Do individuals have a 'right' to privacy, and if so does the concept of > 'self-defence' with respect to the polis negate its expression? And does > the 'right to avoid self-incrimination' trump the polis's responsibility > to protect the common good through disclosure? > > Rights in general are considered the expression of the individual, > something outside the realm of 'community', 'society', or 'civilization' > (ie they aren't 'granted'). However, the concept of 'privacy' has no > rational existance in such a view because it doesn't operate in single > unit populations. Privacy can only come into play when the population is > greater than 2. > > If we allow that individuals gain 'rights' because of 'social interaction' > is 'privacy' the only one that is gained? Would 'marriage' be one? > Wouldn't the 'right to congregate' be one? After all a group without a > right to form isn't much of a group. > > Is the 'right to conceal' an expression of the right to speak in the sense > of 'not speaking', thus returning it to the realm of 'individual rights'? > > > -- > ____________________________________________________________________ > > "...where annual election ends, tyranny begins;" > > Thomas Jefferson & Samuel Adams > > The Armadillo Group ,::////;::-. James Choate > Austin, Tx /:'///// ``::>/|/ [EMAIL PROTECTED] > www.ssz.com .', |||| `/( e\ 512-451-7087 > -====~~mm-'`-```-mm --'- > --------------------------------------------------------------------
