Should the Authorities be allowed to spy on your computer?

German court rules against spying on computer use
International Herald Tribune,



"A german court ruled that surveillance of personal computers would be allowed only for exceptional cases. Should the authorities be allowed to use virus-like software to spy on suspects' computers?"


What is your opinion on this issue?

 

NEVER! Pigs should never be allowed to watch our computers... thats as bad as spying; its like a dictatorship. My computer, my opinions, my business.

 

Well said. Say no more.

 

Sounds like an excuse to dig up some misdemeanor or crime from the suspect in question in order to get a warrant for search and seizure or an arrest.

Dat ain't kewl.

 

We need a Tax increase so that the goverment can employ more people to check up on us?

 

fuck yes, i couldn't have said it better myself!

 

Really? As if tapping the phones isn't enough...Dx

 

They already do. You have no reasonable expectation of privacy on the internet. None. But they don't watch everyone. Not possible.

The best countermeasure is not to call attention to yourself to begin with.


x

 

I believe they're already watching me after the opinions I've expressed on this and other forums.

 

This basically true. Sending an email is like sending a post card, it is not in a envelope and it is easy for someone other than the intended recipient to read it along the way.

This is called a "Chilling effect", meaning people are deterred from expressing their views for fear of repercussions, in effect curbing free speech without actually having to do anything. The best counter measure is to remain as anonymous as possible on the internet and use encryption where appropriate.

I use a different login name and password for each forum I goto, I also setup a separate email address for each identity. I go into each of these email accounts once a month to delete everything in the inboxes, I never respond to anything sent to those accounts. I use FireFox with Cookiesafe, Noscript and Adblocker installed to keep websites from collecting information about me. I use Scroogle Scraper for my search engine, this keeps anyone from linking my internet searches with an email address or even a IP address. For trips on the internet where I am paticularly paranoid I use Tor, which makes tracking my IP address next to impossible, by placing a series of encrytped proxy servers between me and the site I am visiting. If someone REALLY wanted to track me online, they could, but that does not mean I have to make it easy for them.

Where privacy using your computer and the internet are concerned, your best counter measure is encryption. For email, use Thunderbird with the Enigmail plugin and GNUPG and do not keep your key set on your hard drive, keep it on a USB key you keep on your person. Next for important documents you want to keep private on your local system, use TrueCrypt. If possible, don't keep encrypted files on your machine at all, keep them on your USB key and while you are at it, encrypt your GNUPG key set as well. This is especially true for laptops, which can easily be lost or stolen, besides, at airports they always make me turn on my laptop, but they never make me plug in my USB key. What all this does is it sets up an expectation of privacy forcing the police to get a warrant, no ifs ands or buts, otherwise any evidence they collect will be considered tainted and be thrown out. Second it forces them to come to you for the passwords which forces their investigation of you into the open allowing you more opportunities to cover your tracks and alert others who might be involved. Third, if everything of value is on a USB key, you may also get a chance to dump it somewhere before law enforcement has a chance to pick you up.

This all might sound like a pain in the ass, but if you are worried about protecting yourself, it is worth the effort.

 

I don't think you'd find anyone here who'd agree with that without an arrest warrent.

Someone wants to feel important.

 

They can try but they can never prove just excalty who was on the computer to have said a certain something sent somehwere else on the net which drew their eyes in the first place.

If they do come to you and ask for your password to even attempt to make something look like you, just dont give em it. Nothing they can do which is proof they know they cant put blame on you for anything on the net. Beside, wouldnt want them planting shit later or someone else editing shit later and like morons they try to pend every single thing on you.

 

Nov. 19, 2008,
Bill Maher on 'The Tonight Show with Jay Leno' said:

" We didn have to torture people to beat the Nazis;
We didn't have to tap phones to beat the Soviets."

 

Nov, 19, 2008, Bill Maher in 'The Tonight Show with Jay Leno' said:

" After 9/11, we panicked!
We attacked a wrong country because we panicked;
We tortured people because we panicked.
We didn't have to torture people to beat the Nazis;
We didn't have to tap phones to beat the Soviets. "

 

honestly? I'd very much like to have a gauss coil by the end of my hallway, just to frag my HD's if anyone took them, on principal (yes, I know, destroying evidence)

I do not like the idea of someone wiretapping anyone's computer without really good cause.

 

i have a real hard time understanding why privacy is so important. i don't do a bunch of illegal stuff, other than smoke, and i have no problem with anyone reading every email, post and whatever i do on my computer.

And here's the thing ~ only folks who have something to hide want their stuff hidden.

Yeah, i know ~ it's not a popular belief, but it's how i live my life.

 

I have stuff that is MINE, and in data form, tapping it, is stealing it. there are things on my computer that are unique in this world, and I do not want people taking them from me. they are mine.

honestly? their jacking my files is really REALLY good legal justification for ALL KINDS of piracy.

 

They already do.

http://www.aclu.org/safefree/nsaspying/faachallenge.html

 

Wow Fyrenza, you are up for a "shooting ourselves in the foot" award.

You would have to be incredibly gullible to believe that the innocent need no protection from the government. Your point of view is best summed up by the quote from the crucible that "the pure of heart need no lawyers".

Protection from unreasonable search and seizure is not just for criminals. It's an important right we all share.

 

i thought we were just talking about someone with the authority to, going in and looking ~ not stealing anything.

i guess that i sort of think of it as being proven innocent, 'cuz once they look around in my computer, they'll know i'm not involved in anything illegal or subversive ~ unless planning a container garden of flesh-eating plants counts as something seditious!

And i do feel like i have nothing to hide, so why would i TRY to hide 'nothing?'