Geekzone: technology news, blogs, forums
Guest
Welcome Guest.
You haven't logged in yet. If you don't have an account you can register now.


Rikkitic

Awrrr
18657 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#160604 13-Jan-2015 10:23
Send private message

In the wake of the tragedies in Sydney and Paris, Australia is apparently in the process of implementing new policies in regard to metadata collection and other procedures aimed at protecting against terrorism but also having the effect of compromising civil liberties. I don’t know what, if any, comparable measures are underway in New Zealand, but it is reasonable to assume that something similar will also occur here if it is not already in the works.

 



 

As most Geekzone users are technically sophisticated, and have a better than average understanding of what intelligence gathering and data retention actually means and how far it can go, I am curious to know how they feel about these developments. Is this necessary? Is it desirable? Is it inevitable in the face of determined fanaticism?

 



 

At the same time, what limits, if any, should be placed on free speech? I keep seeing commentaries about how this is an essential part of our democracy and the importance of the fourth estate, but then today someone on Sky News pointed out that the French magazine Charlie Hebbo that everyone is now claiming to support, would have been immediately closed down if an attempt to publish it in Australia had been made. I assume the same is true for New Zealand. There is little political satire in this country, especially the kind of biting bad taste satire published in Charlie, and making fun of religion or other sacred cows is apparently also out of bounds. By Continental standards we are bland to the point of terminal boredom and heavy-handed censorship makes sure our precious kiddies are insulted from anything that smacks of sex or controversial ideas, though unrestrained violence seems to be okay.

 



 

So where should the limits lie? I believe some things, like racism, should be prohibited by law because it has been shown that they do real damage and can lead to extremes like the Holocaust and ethnic cleansing. I don’t think simple bad taste should be banned, or making fun of political figures, which has a long and noble tradition, at least outside New Zealand, or even poking fun at religion. People, especially in this country, should not be so easily offended, but if they are, they can reply in kind. Write an impassioned letter, or draw a funny cartoon, or organise a demonstration. That is what free speech is supposed to be about.

 

 

 





Plesse igmore amd axxept applogies in adbance fir anu typos

 


 


Create new topic
SaltyNZ
8218 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted
2degrees
Lifetime subscriber

  #1213092 13-Jan-2015 12:02
Send private message

There are many threads already about this topic, with true believers on both sides. For myself, I believe such warrantless bulk collection is dangerous for several reasons. For one thing, it doesn't, and cannot, work. High school level probability maths tells you that even if your automatic algorithm is 99.9% effective (which is incredibly far better than anything you could expect in the real world) then the false positive rate is going to have the police chasing up tens of thousands of completely innocent people, which is a waste of time and resource, and a distraction from watching the real bad guys. Secondly, most of the bad guys who have actually managed to pull something off were already well known to security agencies before their crimes. If we can't prevent known bad guys from committing acts of terror, why would we think that automated trawling of everyone's communications would help? 

The list of bad guys already known to authorities includes, but is not limited to:

 

  • The 9/11 terrorists, known to the CIA and the FBI
  • The underpants bomber (father warned the FBI he was about to do something)
  • The Boston marathon bombers (Russian FSB warned the FBI about them)
  • The recent Sydney gunman, out on bail for numerous violent and/or sexual offences
  • The recent French killers, one of whom was previously jailed for terrorism
And thirdly, even if you think you can trust the current government completely (and you can't, as documented in many places, unauthorised access is a fact) who knows who will be in power after the next election? Or in ten years? The most evil governments of the last century were originally the people's heroes.




iPad Pro 11" + iPhone 15 Pro Max + 2degrees 4tw!

 

These comments are my own and do not represent the opinions of 2degrees.


Create new topic





News and reviews »

Air New Zealand Starts AI adoption with OpenAI
Posted 24-Jul-2025 16:00


eero Pro 7 Review
Posted 23-Jul-2025 12:07


BeeStation Plus Review
Posted 21-Jul-2025 14:21


eero Unveils New Wi-Fi 7 Products in New Zealand
Posted 21-Jul-2025 00:01


WiZ Introduces HDMI Sync Box and other Light Devices
Posted 20-Jul-2025 17:32


RedShield Enhances DDoS and Bot Attack Protection
Posted 20-Jul-2025 17:26


Seagate Ships 30TB Drives
Posted 17-Jul-2025 11:24


Oclean AirPump A10 Water Flosser Review
Posted 13-Jul-2025 11:05


Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7: Raising the Bar for Smartphones
Posted 10-Jul-2025 02:01


Samsung Galaxy Z Flip7 Brings New Edge-To-Edge FlexWindow
Posted 10-Jul-2025 02:01


Epson Launches New AM-C550Z WorkForce Enterprise printer
Posted 9-Jul-2025 18:22


Samsung Releases Smart Monitor M9
Posted 9-Jul-2025 17:46


Nearly Half of Older Kiwis Still Write their Passwords on Paper
Posted 9-Jul-2025 08:42


D-Link 4G+ Cat6 Wi-Fi 6 DWR-933M Mobile Hotspot Review
Posted 1-Jul-2025 11:34


Oppo A5 Series Launches With New Levels of Durability
Posted 30-Jun-2025 10:15



Geekzone Live »

Try automatic live updates from Geekzone directly in your browser, without refreshing the page, with Geekzone Live now.



Are you subscribed to our RSS feed? You can download the latest headlines and summaries from our stories directly to your computer or smartphone by using a feed reader.