> In a case of bedfellows about as strange as they come, the ACLU has
> joined with House Majority Leader Dick Armey, Republican from Texas,
> to call for a halt to the use of facial recognition technology as a part
> of government surveillance of American citizens.
> http://www.aclu.org/news/2001/n071101a.html reads:
>
Talk about how silly can the ACLU get (and I respect their
AVOWED intentions to defend liberty especially for those
unable to defend themselves.)
This issue should not be the "use" of such technology but
the "misuse" of the technology.
Misuse would (probably) include things like keeping records on
the movement/location of law abiding (read: no wants/no warrants)
citizens.
Valid use would include picking up those with valid FELONY WARRANTS.
Give me a break, IF (a big if) there were no misuse, what possible
complaint would the honest citizen have to locating and arresting
those with felony warrants and escaped convicts?
Efforts should be aimed at regulations and policies to avoid, discourage,
and eliminate misuse.
Of course anyone can point out that "there is no way to prevent
misuse". Of course this is true -- but we cannot prevent police
abuse and misconduct either. This does not stop us from building
in safeguards and review procedures, nor does it stop us from
having police forces.
Herb Martin, MCT, MCSD, MCSE
HerbM@LearnQuick.Com http://LearnQuick.Com
512 388 7339 -or- 1 800 MCSE PRO
Accelerated MCSE in a Week Seminars
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-extropians@extropy.org
> [mailto:owner-extropians@extropy.org]On Behalf Of hal@finney.org
> Sent: Thursday, July 12, 2001 2:42 PM
> To: extropians@extropy.org
> Subject: ACLU and Republican leader join forces on privacy
>
>
> In a case of bedfellows about as strange as they come, the ACLU has
> joined with House Majority Leader Dick Armey, Republican from Texas,
> to call for a halt to the use of facial recognition technology as a part
> of government surveillance of American citizens.
> http://www.aclu.org/news/2001/n071101a.html reads:
>
> Over the past several days, a troubling expansion in the way
> technology is being used in the surveillance of ordinary Americans
> has come to light. In response, we are today joining together to call
> on all state and local governments to stop using these dangerous
> technologies now before privacy in America is so diminished that
> it becomes nothing more than a fond memory.
>
> Majority Leader Armey will ask the General Accounting Office
> to study the extent to which the federal government is funding
> facial-recognition technologies. In addition, he will ask the
> relevant House Committees to hold hearings on law enforcement use
> of surveillance technology. The ACLU supports these requests.
>
> I doubt that Armey and the ACLU agree on much. It's amazing how these new
> issues are cutting across traditional political divisions. Even with
> the stem cell issue, Catholics are giving cover to Republicans for
> support of research in this area, while the Protestant Right continues
> to adopt an absolutist stance against it. I wonder what new divisions
> and realigments we will see as technology moves on.
>
> Hal
>
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Fri Oct 12 2001 - 14:39:44 MDT