The business of disregarding privacy
This article in yesterday’s New York Times, Wider Spying Fuels Aid Plan for Telecom Industry reminded me that I never posted a link to my last Gotham Gazette article on the current battles at the intersection of technology and policy.
The article grows out of what I wrote about here following my first GG article, the telcos push for immunity for participating in illegal spying, and the case of Warshak v US, which could for the first time apply the Fourth Amendment to remotely-stored emails and personal files.
One quick note on the topic of immunity for telco corporations that broke the law at the behest of the executive branch. I would almost be willing to accept the argument that they were just following orders and shouldn’t be liable for the government’s overreaching – if anyone in the government was being held accountable for the illegal spying. But the civil cases against the telcos are the best chance we have of bringing any of this to light, so we need to do what we can to see that they move forward.
My next article, coming out this week, will look at the various wi-fi projects underway in New York City.
