
Keeping Government Out of Your Business - NextGenLog
https://cacm.acm.org/news/243729-keeping-government-out-of-your-business/fulltext
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lordnacho
I wonder if the case tracing for this virus will be used to promote a policy
of "we need to know where everyone is, just in case". I can see someone
putting that out and saying the information will only be used in this type of
emergency.

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rasteau
No need to wonder. [https://www.npr.org/2020/03/19/818327945/israel-begins-
track...](https://www.npr.org/2020/03/19/818327945/israel-begins-tracking-and-
texting-those-possibly-exposed-to-the-coronavirus)

"Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the country's Shin Bet domestic spy
agency, usually tasked with monitoring Palestinian and Israeli extremists, to
launch the cellphone surveillance. It locates people who could have the virus
and messages them.

"Meanwhile, late Thursday Israel's Supreme Court stopped the police from using
the data to enforce quarantines, which it had started doing. The court also
said it could scrap the program unless it goes through parliament or if the
country is put on a total lockdown."

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rhcom2
Seems to be hugged to death:
[https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:keIYYf...](https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:keIYYfIRYGQJ:https://cacm.acm.org/news/243729-keeping-
government-out-of-your-
business+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=firefox-b-1-d)

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motohagiography
So long as we accept that privacy is a technical problem, we consent to the
legal impunity of people who vioate it. Tech is a poor substitute for freedom
and associated rights. It keeps people distracted and believing that if only
they knew more math they would be free.

We need to change the conversation.

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neonate
[https://archive.md/gQiFp](https://archive.md/gQiFp)

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objektif
Until you beg for a bail out.

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tathougies
I mean, the government shut down the economy, not the virus. Even after we all
knew about it, spring breakers were still partying, people still wanted to go
on vacation, people were still going out. The government had to shut the
economy down with the threat of force.

That action alone should open the government up to civil tort liability. Like,
if the government imprisoned me unjustly they would have to pay me when I sue
them. The same should apply here. Without government intervention, the market
would have still been going on strong. If the government orders an indefinite
shut down, a huge violation of American's civil rights (but one that is
warranted in my opinion), then they need to properly reimburse for that
drastic change in civil rights.

If the government did not want to pay, they should have let the market decline
due to people dying and then refuse to bail out corporations, because that
would have been a problem of the market's own making. Now it is a problem of
the government's making, and they have to compensate, period.

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ornornor
The market is not a living being. It’s a concept. Why should The Market matter
more than real people’s lives? We’ve seen how well letting The Market self
regulate and its players self regulate goes... Tobacco is addictive and kills
lots of people with totally preventable deaths. But for decades tobacco
companies were allowed to profit while ruining people’s lives. Had there not
been for laws restricting tobacco use, we would be a lot worse off. That’s one
example. There are countless others.

~~~
leetcrew
the shares are owned by real people.

it's not totally different from the situation where the government wants to
build a train track through where your house currently sits. the train line
will connect two important cities and allow for lots of people to commute with
less emissions. it's a great thing, but the government is still obligated to
pay you for the house it's about to bulldoze.

~~~
kortilla
It is in the US. If your ideal model of government is something like China,
the concept of the right thing for the people still requiring compensation to
the disrupted individuals is pretty foreign.

~~~
leetcrew
one of many reasons I prefer to live here.

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olivermarks
Important article IMO

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slg
Maybe this is intentional, but this is a bad headline considering it is using
a less popular definition of business and there is an ongoing discussion of
how involved the government should be in controlling and supporting businesses
due to COVID-19 and the resulting economic downturn. Half the comments here
are about that that alternative meaning instead of the topic in the actual
article.

