Paul KnightlyArs sat down with Andrew Guthrie Ferguson to discuss his new book, "Your Data Will Be Used Against You".
Really insightful interview and I'll add this to my reading list.
As I've been saying for quite a while now (two decades-ish?), it doesn't matter if you feel like you are on the right side of the law and have nothing to hide. The protection of privacy rights impacts everyone.
Clear laws and boundaries are needed to define what types of digital data can be accessed, with appropriate protections in place to prevent otherwise innocent parties from becoming ensnared in criminal investigations, or from being targeted for their views or political affiliations.
I agree with Ferguson's assessment that certain tools can be extremely useful when used lawfully.
For example, license plate readers have been around since the 1970s and have helped solve numerous crimes in a clear, defined process. They were largely uncontroversial until Flock.
What isn't acceptable is the wholesale aggregation of license plate data to create driver/vehicle profiles in an extrajudicial database where access can be sold to data brokers and law enforcement agencies.
I like his connection to the original establishment of the Fourth Amendment and the necessity of warrants to prevent British soldiers from rummaging through people's homes to determine if they possessed untaxed goods or treasonous writings about the King.
Warrantless access to digital devices and digital footprints alike are tantamount to law enforcement agencies rummaging about until they find something potentially or actually incriminating, completely devoid of guardrails and protections.
Kyle Memoir 🍉🐧I once spent time helping a large public entity buy enterprise-level financial case management software.
Ten—'(10)' as the procurement lawyers always liked to add—or more years ago, Oracle salespeople were already telling me, 'Kyle, I'm not allowed to share details, but you would not believe the shit we can do for law enforcement with these tools...'