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An American Privacy Emergency

scottaaronson.blog

71–80 of 154 posts

Re: An American Privacy Emergency

#71
post #6

Yeah, calling your legislators is going to do precisely nothing [1], just like data centers are almost universally opposed by the communities and the negative externalities are way more real and direct. Yet they keep getting approved anyway. The true crisis here is in the captured political system. In the 1990s in Australia a racist, white supremacist party arose called One Nation through a very weird confluence of e…

Ranked choice voting would go a long way, the two-party system is an intentionally forced false dichotomy like when parents give their kids the choice to eat broccoli or carrots so they’ll think it was their decision. Both parties are controlled by the investor class.

You could even just have straight proportional voting if you wanted, and that's be better than the current system. You got 3 votes? Great, you have a 3/100M chance to win.

Re: An American Privacy Emergency

#72
post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I do differential privacy work for GDPR compliance and it's an interesting technology. You mean legislation?

No? We do GDPR-compliant reporting by using differential privacy to provably remove PII.

"PII" in the context of GDPR...?

Re: An American Privacy Emergency

#73
post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of the things I have found so alarming about a lot of recent revelations is just how cheap congress goes for.

In that case, maybe it would make sense for regular people to create their own PACs. Like a privacy PAC. Pay for lobbyists who are more persuasive than our angry emails. As they say, freedom ain’t free.

https://theonion.com/american-people-hire-high-powered-lobby...

Re: An American Privacy Emergency

#74
> If followed, this order will destroy the Commerce public data our nation relies on for important decisions, such as where to build necessary services for our community’s well-being

So this is not about privacy. Scott sounds like a computer scientist forced (by the American ecosystem) to become a bombastic talker.

Re: An American Privacy Emergency

#75
post #66
post #31

What is the political goal behind this directive? I assume there is some completely non-subtle purpose, but I can't tell what it is.

The people currently in power want every single byte of data they can get on people who reside in this country so they can divide them up by arbitrary criteria and do with those groups as they please. Depending on the person, that might mean imprisonment, it might mean deportation, it might mean something worse.

Imprisonment? deportation? these are petty things.

The serious danger is polarization and radicalization, turning people against each other, suppressing voices of reason. The ensuing chaos could help pull off another January 6th, only successful. Gerrymandering is one approach, but with more detailed data more interesting things may become possible.

Re: An American Privacy Emergency

#76
post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I do differential privacy work for GDPR compliance and it's an interesting technology. You mean legislation?

No? We do GDPR-compliant reporting by using differential privacy to provably remove PII.

Your sentence reads weird, like if you're missing some key words or context.

Re: An American Privacy Emergency

#78
post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of the things I have found so alarming about a lot of recent revelations is just how cheap congress goes for.

I only-kinda-jokingly say that I'd be willing to be the sacrifice and get a second mortgage on my house if it could buy the entire nation some new rights. Our politicians routinely sell out smaller issues for "downpayment in a coastal metro" level of money. It's just about within reach of a middle-class urban adult to directly fund with some personal sacrifices. I feel like we like to imagine that these corporations…

Always wondered about this…

Are politicians really so beholden to an anonymous donor that makes a single $50k donation? Or even a single $500k one?

Or is it the real knowledge that said known regular donors will continue indefinitely as long as things go their way (and indefinitely support the opposition otherwise) …?

The pessimistic part of me wonders if a grassroots campaign that raised $10M would even be able drive any change with it.

Re: An American Privacy Emergency

#79
post #66
post #31

What is the political goal behind this directive? I assume there is some completely non-subtle purpose, but I can't tell what it is.

The people currently in power want every single byte of data they can get on people who reside in this country so they can divide them up by arbitrary criteria and do with those groups as they please. Depending on the person, that might mean imprisonment, it might mean deportation, it might mean something worse.

> so they can divide them up by arbitrary criteria and do with those groups as they please

You mean like by race, gender, and sexual orientation, and using statistical analysis to portray a group of oppressors vs. oppressed, perpetrators and victims? Exactly what was happening via official public policy for the last 4 years while the progressives cheered it on?

Re: An American Privacy Emergency

#80
post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

if DSA gets enough people in, that might go through? pretty directly within the realms of what their candidates support, and they have a pretty good purity test to tell who to support or not with the genocide question

DSA?

Communists
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