this post was submitted on 11 Aug 2023
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Except where actual safety is concerned, all information should be public. That means Individuals, businesses, authorities, governments, etc, should not be able to hold any information privately, it should all be freely available to everyone. There only private information is what you can hold in your head.
Anyone who thinks about this idea for more than 30 seconds decides it is a really bad idea. I honestly believe that true information freedom will also free the human race, and that is the unpopular part. Everyone seemed to think I'm naive but people are just frightened kids and secrets are their first line of defense.
That's because of all the problems your idea would cause. Identity theft would run rampant, stalking would become easier than ever before, tracking people down would just be one search, etc. I mean you truly did bring up an unpopular opinion, I'll give you that.
Yes and know proving your identity would come under the category of "risk of harm" so can be protected.
Yeah, I think you're naive.
I grew up in an abusive home where the very people who were supposed to be closest to me and love me the most would take completely benign things and weaponize them.
Once you've seen someone take genuinely, truly innocent things and use them to brutalize you as severely as if you were actually doing wrong, you realize the rest of humanity--who mostly have fewer ties to you than blood family--can easily do that too.
A world where you have to have everything hanging in the open hands weapons to those who are sociopathic enough to see that system and immediately game it for their own self-benefit.
Tricky one. Abuwe of individuals by withholding information would be much harder. Everything they do effectively goes public. It will be obvious they are gaming a system. What we have now is far worse.
My health records don't pose a safety concern, but they still arent yours or anyone elses fucking business.
Hmm that is more about social conversation. You'd get over it if this was the norm.
No, Because people are entitled to privacy.
And I guaran-fuckin-tee theres something in your life that if someone started blabbing, and you were told to get over it, you'd lose your fucking shit over.
I'm sure there is, but how much more careful would you be if you thought everyone would find out what you get up to? Thing is embarrassment is temporary, so is humiliation. People either grow to be way more tolerant or they will suffer.
no, you're just a sociopath.
Hey, I'm nice. And if all my info was public you'd know it.
Would you share your internet history and text messages with your boss and co workers? With all your family? With us in this thread?
No, they wouldn't
Indeed. But you'd also stop yourself doing stupid stuff for the same reason. Also keeping those stuff private is a social convention. Sex talk should be more public anyway.
Other people have pointed out more types of information that has good reason to be confidential, but we should also acknowledge it would be a huge investment of effort to do something like this. Organizing, storing, updating, and sifting through all this information when it would so rarely be useful is already too much effort for the benefit even disregarding other concerns.
Thanks for the unpopular opinion though, it is an interesting change to consider as a thought experiment.
We already spend a lot of effort keeping data private, and also making data accessible. But I don't expect all information to be put in a big database for everyone to see. The point is, no one can say no when asked for data.
If this happened due to suddenly everyone being able to read each others thoughts unfiltered and without the ability to block others out from your own, it would be amazing. However power corrupts and I don't think there is an utopian situation where abuse would not happen in a society where information is given up voluntarily.
Power is also removed from those who keep secrets. Businesses can't lie anymore. Power is equalised as this applies to everyone.
This is unpopular? Sad noises
Yes!! A believer.
Do you have curtains on your windows?
Yes. But Not to keep a secret. This sort of privacy is about social dignity, not concealment.
Private โ secret.
Sort of. Privacy to prevent harm is coverd by my "safefy" clause. However, I think Privacy is often abused and used as a way to justify secrecy.
Doesn't india have something like that for the government?