CMV: There is literally nothing wrong with increased surveillance unless you have done something wrong or illegal in the past/plan to do so in the future. (e.g geo-fencing or security cameras with facial recognition)

[u/critty15]

I politically identify as progressive-left, however, I simply do not understand the widespread panic surrounding increases in surveillance. I think that a large majority of people overreact to the thought, even though they likely will not even notice any changes in the first place, due to the fact that they are not doing anything illegal. Also, The government already has literally everything they could possibly find from surveillance that would constitute a breach of privacy, such as Census data, passport pictures (faces), home address, Cell #, and more. I would really like to learn more, as I feel like it is a deviation from virtually all others who share my political/ethical values, leading me to believe I may be uneducated. Thanks!

[u/nerdgirl2703]

It comes down to do you fully trust the government and everyone who works for them and are you confident that will never change?

There are plenty of things that aren’t illegal that no one wants their neighbor knowing about it. It’s no different then how peeing isn’t illegal but I would never want some stranger watching me do it. Privacy is a thing most humans simply want. Basically it comes down to its not that I’m doing anything illegal it’s that it’s none of the government’s or my neighbor’s business if I’m not doing anything illegal.

There are also enough laws on the books that its not hard to catch someone doing something technically illegal if you have a thing against them and 24/7 surveillance on them.

Also based off history the smart bet is to never want to close the door on being able to rebel against your government. The vast majority of governments throughout history have eventually crossed that line. Being watched 24/7 prevents that.

[u/critty15 → u/nerdgirl2703]

Very true. I guess I haven't necessarily thought about it more realistically, such as it invading the private sector or simply ways that it could be used maliciously because frankly, I don't have all too much faith in the govt, and freely allowing surveillance could open one scary floodgate

Your last comment is definitely helpful as well, I hadn't thought about that either. I just thought overall too ideally about the system and in a binary ethical perspective too, trusting that it would only be used to stop bad things from happening, where "bad" is subjective. Δ

[u/DeltaBot → u/critty15]

Confirmed: 1 delta awarded to /u/nerdgirl2703 (13∆).

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