Internet Anonymity: Right or wrong?

[Mat]

Having weighed the pro's and con's, and considered both sides of the argument, I'm a firm believer that completely anonymous Internet access should be promoted.

Granted, it would put a stop to the actions of online criminals, but I would not be at all comfortable with somebody following me around with a clipboard and logging my actions. Timing every visit to the bathroom, recording private conversations, taking note of which shops I frequent and which products I pick up.

But because people are less aware of it happening online, they seem not to mind. Records are kept of the websites you visit, any emails you send, your messenger conversations; Your sexual likes and dislikes, your political views, your shopping habits; Your filthy conversations with the wife, your private family photographs, and your most intimate secrets.

Do you think that such records should be kept? Are you happy that your online "life" is recoded in intimate detail? Do you think that it's a price worth paying to keep tabs on life's more unsavoury characters? Perhaps you consider that we should not only record, but analyse every piece of data 'just in case'...?

[Mark]

I'm not altogether sure that the 'filthy conversations with my wife' have been recorded on the internet - but I'd sure be interested to hear them!

Good subject; very emotive. I'm also not convinced that what people do on line is "tracked" per se. Sure, it might be possible to obtain logs and 'put the jigsaw puzzle together' - if an investigation required it - but are we really all being kept under close surveillance? I think not.

Anyway, I'm a full-on advocate of DNA databases and sub-dermal microchipping of the entire UK population (and so is Emma) so perhaps I'm not the best person to comment!

Anyone else?

[Mat]

Originally Posted by Eagle

I'm not altogether sure that the 'filthy conversations with my wife' have been recorded on the internet - but I'd sure be interested to hear them!

Good subject; very emotive. I'm also not convinced that what people do on line is "tracked" per se. Sure, it might be possible to obtain logs and 'put the jigsaw puzzle together' - if an investigation required it - but are we really all being kept under close surveillance? I think not.

It may not be surveillance in that nobody looks at the logs unless there's a reason to (i.e. an investigation), but the very fact that logs exist make me somewhat uncomfortable. I don't get up to anything that I shouldn't, but then I don't get up to anything I shouldn't in real life and wouldn't want cameras recording me as I walked around my house.

Originally Posted by Eagle

Anyway, I'm a full-on advocate of DNA databases and sub-dermal microchipping of the entire UK population (and so is Emma) so perhaps I'm not the best person to comment!

That's all well and good until the wrong people get hold of your data!

[Mark]

Originally Posted by Mat

That's all well and good until the wrong people get hold of your data!

True - and we're not oblivious to the dangers - but we feel that the pros outweigh the cons.

[Dan Knowlson]

Originally Posted by Eagle

Anyway, I'm a full-on advocate of DNA databases and sub-dermal microchipping of the entire UK population

Ahhhhhh, run away!!

[winelabels]

...then someone will decide to use it. State snooping is a growing sport, especially in local government. If you overfill your bin then they try to get info on you, they'll snoop the logs in case you are surfing flytipping sites.
There is no good reason for having the data, so remove the temptation to misuse it by keeping everything anonymous.

[Mat]

Originally Posted by winelabels

...then someone will decide to use it. State snooping is a growing sport, especially in local government. If you overfill your bin then they try to get info on you, they'll snoop the logs in case you are surfing flytipping sites.

There is no good reason for having the data, so remove the temptation to misuse it by keeping everything anonymous.

That's along the lines of my thinking. The data is fine, as long as it is stored correctly and used responsibly. The government has proven over recent months that they are unable to store information responsibly. Take the occasion when they lost details of 300 people in witness protection for example.

The problem comes when the power of that information is realised and exploited. Take China, for example, where the government uses that information to identify and capture those with opinions which differ from their own.

And don't get me started on local councils! Snooping around dustbins and staking out houses to check that kids are going to the right school...