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"[1] In my opinion, privacy is obsolete in a world where people voluntarily give over to third parties every detail about their lives, but reasonable minds can differ on that point."

Speaking of straw men...ha.

While your assertion here may be true, the world you describe (in which people - as in all nearly all of them - hand over EVERY detail) is not the world we live in. Not even close. You're knocking down a figment of your own imagination. In other words? Yup, a straw man.

Meanwhile, back in reality, lots of people have plenty to hide and do their best to keep their secrets. And this isn't just criminal activity. It's also their private feelings, impolitic thoughts, confidential business plans, romantic intentions, parameters of negotiating positions, health concerns, etc. Very, very obviously, they do not share "every detail."

To the extent that indiscriminate openness can be used against people, there are always going to be people who want more of it. For these assholes, the evaporation of privacy lowers the cost of abusing others while making the abuse itself far more profitable and / or intimidating. And obviously, there are a lot of businesses and government agencies that would love to see privacy norms, laws, and technical barriers rolled waaaay back. To the degree there's been natural erosion, they've seen how profitable and efficient this erosion can be. Of course they want moar, Moar, MOAR! Power and profit depends on nothing less!

And one of their favorite ways of getting it is by insisting that privacy is already dead, that protecting its ghost is a fool's errand, so honestly, why not give up already? Just submit! Why won't you submit?




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