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Von:
"John Read" <Bestbear@samphire.freeserve.co.uk> An:
"Roger Hicks" <Roger.Hicks@spaceship-earth.de> Betreff: Hi again! Datum: Donnerstag, 11. Oktober 2001 09:19 Hello
Roger Nice
to see you in virtual print again in the ET! Your
latest note confirms an opinion of mine: that people of your mindset -
without perhaps realising it - have no conception of what makes for personal
freedom and no particular love for it.
We "right wing" people, on the other hand, have, and
do! So Conservative people would be
extremely reluctant to see the introduction of ID cards, and recoil in horror
from your Orwellian suggestion. We
like our liberties, you see. . "What
have we got to hide?" is the next question, isn't it? This has been the line taken by oppressive
regimes to justify every infraction of freedom, in every age. We, on the other hand, do not wish to
become the sort of country in which every jumped up jobsworth has the right
to say "Pappieren, bitte! - or in the modern world to discover where our
lawful occasions have taken us and why without us even knowing. How tempting, though, for the
anti-hunting, anti-motorist, anti-this-and-that people, to have such a
wonderful instrument of control at their fingertips! No. We don't think your kind know what's best
for us! Sorry....! Kind
regards John Von: "Roger Hicks"
<Roger.Hicks@spaceship-earth.de> An:
"John Read" <Bestbear@samphire.freeserve.co.uk> Betreff:
Thanks for the feedback Datum: Donnerstag, 11. Oktober 2001 11:03 Dear
John, Thanks
for the feedback. You
are quite right in assuming that my next question is: What do you have to
hide? I do not
understand why you, and so many other people, equate civil liberty with the
right to remain anonymous. Of
course there is a problem in making sure that personal data are not misused,
and a lot of thought and effort needs to be put into making sure that they
aren't. No
one need know anything about you. The information is placed anonymously in
databanks which are searched electronically for terrorist and criminal
profiles. If you do not have such a profile, no one will ever see your
details. If you do, someone in state security (carefully selected for the
job, supervised and subject to strict regulations formulated by
democratically elected representatives) will take a look at your details and,
if necessary, check them out. What
is the big problem? What are you so scared of? I do not see it. Please, spell
it out for me! I
think your fears are largely irrational. If we lived in a police state, the
authorities would obtain the information anyway - and misuse them. But we
don't. We live in a democratic state and can make sure that personal data is
not misused, i.e. is not available to anyone who is not properly and
democratically authorised. The
information the state needs is very basic, and no more than you are already
required to supply on occasion. All that is necessary is for it to be placed
in data banks that can be electronically searched, and a way of establishing
reliably on the spot that you are who you say you are. No
one will have access to your private data. But when I get on a plane with
you, I'll be confident that the authorities know you are not a madman who may
have had a pound of semtex implanted into his abdomen. Best
wishes from Roger
Hicks http://www.spaceship-earth.de |