phone lookups

[John R T Brazier]

>>>>>>>>John R T Brazier wrote:
>>>>>>>>Um, whilst proving your point, did you check if these people were
>>>>>>>>happy
>>>>>>>>to have their details spread to this list? Also, what are the
0208...
>>>>>>>>numbers?

>>>>>>>Ben Wrote:
>>>>>>>Since these details are available on a disk anyone can buy, why
check?
>>>>>>

>>>>>>John wrote:
>>>>>>But I haven't bought the disk - so should I have these data? And isn't
>>>>>>this the essence of the privacy debate? Just because the disk exists,
>>>>>>does it
>>>>>>mean that we now shouldn't care about how our details are spread
around?

>>>>>Ben wrote:
>>>>>I didn't say you shouldn't care - but its the disk you should care
>>>>>about, not the fact that someone quoted its contents.

>>>>John Wrote:
>>>>As a point of practice, you are correct. As a point of principle, I
can't
>>>>buy it. The existence and availability of a data set shouldn't give free
>>>>license to any use or abuse of it. Otherwise, by this argument, Blunkett
>>>>was
>>>>right: ISPs have traffic data, which is available to the Government, so
>>>>it
>>>>shouldn't matter if the Government "spreads it around a bit".

>>>Ben Wrote:
>>>There's a fundamental difference - the traffic data is not freely
>>>available to all comers.

>> John replied:
>> I don't see the basic difference: traffic data is freely available to
some
>> Governmental
>> agencies. By your argument it shouldn't matter if it's available to a few
>> more.

>Ben replied
>No, I'm saying it is available to everyone its, err, available to. And
>ISP traffic data is not "available to the Government" unless certain
>conditions are satisfied.

If you had ended your first sentence with the addition "...and shouldn't be
available to those it isn't" I suspect we would be in close agreement!

TTFN

John B