David Brin is a popular author (including the Uplift series -- which I highly recommend -- The Postman, Earth, and The Transparent Society): http://www.davidbrin.com/ Also see yesterday's MSNBC article by Bob Sullivan on ChoicePoint's latest privacy snafu: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6969799/ -Declan -------- Original Message -------- Subject: Re: [Politech] Dan Solove: ChoicePoint functions as spy agency [priv] Date: Thu, 10 Feb 2005 21:02:42 -0800 From: Josh Duberman <pivotalinfo@private> To: Declan McCullagh <declan@private> Hi Declan - I forwarded this item to author David Brin, whose reply is below; he said it would be fine to forward this to the Politech list if you like. Thanks and best wishes - Josh -------------------------------- Choicepoint is scary and O'Harrow is right to zero in on them. As you may expect, my ire is not so much aimed to the effort to let the govt see better as it is aimed at the outrageous Big Brother efforts to HIDE govt surveillance from public oversight. Too few privacy activists parse this distinction, and thus they fall into a trap. They allow the debate to be about EITHER freedom OR security. It is a false dichotomy. The most dreadful features of the Patriot Act and ChoicePoint etc are not the features that allow our professional protective classes to see better. They are the features that hide their processes and actions from our scrutiny, supervision and control. If we were to emphasize THESE portions of the fight, we would be seen as protectors of both freedom and safety. "For more on this see 'futurist essay' pointing out a rather unnoticed aspect of the tragedy of 9/11/01 -that citizens themselves were most effective in our civilization's defense. The only actions that actually saved lives and thwarted terrorism on that awful day were taken amid rapid, ad hoc decisions made by private individuals, reacting with both resiliency and initiative -- our finest traits - and armed with the very same new technologies that dour pundits say will enslave us. Could this point to a trend for the 21st Century, reversing what we've seen throughout the 20th... the ever-growing dependency on professionals to protect and guide and watch over us? See: http://www.futurist.com/portal/future_trends/david_brin_empowerment.htm - David Brin ---------------------------------------------------------------- Declan McCullagh wrote: > Dan is being a bit modest. He has a related book out, also dealing > with databases and privacy. I reviewed his and Bob O'Harrow's book here: > http://news.com.com/2010-7348_3-5563897.html > > -Declan > > > -------- Original Message -------- > Subject: ChoicePoint Functions as an Intelligence Agency > Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2005 01:11:35 -0500 > From: Daniel Solove <djsolove@private> > To: Declan McCullagh <declan@private> > > > > Declan, > > > > Washington Post reporter Robert O’Harrow, Jr., has just written an > eye-opening article about ChoicePoint, the company at the center of the > ongoing discussions on your list in the past few weeks. In the article, > O’Harrow demonstrates that ChoicePoint is, in effect, functioning as an > intelligence agency. Even ChoicePoint admits to such. Government law > enforcement agencies are outsourcing their responsibilities, and thus > escaping from the accountability and protections of the law that > regulates the intelligence community. Here are a few excerpts from the > article: -- Josh Duberman, Pivotalinfo LLC, 15100 SE 38th St. #819, Bellevue, WA 98006; Tel:(206) 632-0097; Cell:(425) 591-8200; pivotalinfo@private; Information For Solutions In Business & Science _______________________________________________ Politech mailing list Archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ Moderated by Declan McCullagh (http://www.mccullagh.org/)
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