Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
The whole Internet surveillance issue can be summarized as follows: governments want
more control over the governed. Perhaps you think your personal information
is worthless, it has no value to anyone but yourself. For example, where were you yesterday, a lot
of people saw you and could tell where you were yesterday. But it is not the same to speak about the information of one
person, that speaking about the information of thousands or millions of people.
Imagine that this personal information is like the gas within this lighter.
It can cause a flame, but is insignificant, anyone could have one.
Now, if you think of gas cylinder, which in this analogy would be equivalent to
information on thousands of people, there are certain standards, a certain thickness of the metal, there are some rules
so that this does not turn into something dangerous.
Now if you want 12 cubic meters of gas in your backyard, or personal information
on hundreds of thousands of people, there is a lot more paperwork to do. No one wants you to
accumulate this in one place without the necessary safeguards.
And for a large container
gas, which could be personal information about millions of people
it is in everyone's interest that we do not allow you to do it without an inspection
and the appropriate permissions.
When the amount of something that seemed insignificant increases, it may change
into something dangerous.
Because now
not only you know where everyone is, but you also know also who was with whom and when.
Think of a government that knows everything about
all entrepreneurs, all journalists, all union leaders, student leaders.
We have had governments like these, if this is your mother tongue (Spanish), your country has had such a government
at some point in history. Now think of a government that knows everything
about all citizens. What we are building is the most ambitious dream of any dictator.
Governments try to minimize or justify everything, whatever it is. They will say it is terrorism
child ***, cyberbullying, harassment, bullying, etc..
But these are only excuses. They want more information about us, because
more information is more power, and it is our duty to keep them at bay. It has always been so.
Being defeated is to lose the will to fight,
but we are neither defeated nor need to feel so.
We do not need to bend over backwards. Privacy is fundamental to
the existance of freedom of expression and actual democracy. For this reason,
privacy is recognized at the highest level in our legal system: for instance, Article
12 of the Declaration of Human Rights enshrines the right to privacy, as well as the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution,
Article 16 of the Constitution of Mexico, Article 18 of the Constitution of Argentina,
Articles 4 and 5 of the Constitution of Chile, paragraphs 10 to 12 of Section 5 of
the Brazilian Constitution, Article 16 of the Constitution of Colombia, etc..
Today citizens respond. Today we think and reflect.
We demand to corporations that want to
hold private user data, that there should be the highest standards of protection of such data,
including the right to be erased if we want.
We demand that states do not violate the privacy of individuals, unless there is a due judicary process
expressly authorizing it. Because what is at stake is whether citizens
control corporations, and control the governments that represent us,
or are those corporations, and those governments, who control us.