Thanks for your responses. To clarify, Lizzie, I refer to when private entities surveil upon other private entities, e.g. the corporate data miners we consistently consider.

My opinion is that the "right to privacy" should be considered more emphatically as a normative right, rather than one that simply adheres to people's relationships with their government. That is, assuming it can really be said to exist in our current jurisprudence.

-- GreggBadichek - 07 Oct 2015

I think in a situation in which civil society were allowed to enforce 'regulations'/'laws' etc. court would serve as facilitators of punishment more than fact finders or upholders of the law. With people watching people we would be less dependent on law enforcement, lawyers and judges who make up a relatively small portion of the population. Its difficult to put into words, maybe an example would help.

There's a company committing a crime or violation that harms its consumers, the consumers realize this and out the company via media outlets and other avenues and the company is taken to trial, found guilty and punished. That is similar to the way things happen now however I think the offense would be caught much quicker if people had better access to the ins and outs of the products they come in contact with. In the case of auto-manufactures (I'm thinking of the GM and Chrysler recalls a few years ago) most consumers do not find out there is a problem until there have been several fatalities. When the investigation was launched we learned that the car companies knew there were problems with the cars accelerating on their own years prior to the recall and subsequent lawsuit. If consumers better understood the technology of the vehicles I believe many would have noticed that something was wrong prior to the tens of deaths and hundreds of accidents over the course of a decade.

I may be being too optimistic, but that's how it would work in my mind. Courts would be making decisions closer to the initial offense than waiting for a number of violations over a significant time before they began looking into a situation.

-- BriannaCummings - 06 Oct 2015

What do you mean exactly? Which people watch which people?

I think courts just fall into line - though they are of course hamstrung by congress here. But what self-respecting judge would preside over a secret court like this? http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/jun/19/fisa-court-oversight-process-secrecy

-- LizzieOShea - 24 Sep 2015

Invitation for broad discussion.

Gregg

-- GreggBadichek - 23 Sep 2015

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