How Much Surveillance Can Democracy Withstand?

Source: Richard Stallman
Affiliation: GNU Operating System

This article discusses how limits must be put on surveillance in order to maintain a healthy democracy. The author poses that the maximum tolerable level of surveillance is the level beyond which whistleblowers are likely to be caught. The reasoning for this is that if whistleblowers are afraid to expose corruption, we lose control over our government and institutions. The author then details some practical principles for maintaining online privacy. The article ends with the admission that a small amount of surveillance is important for crime investigation.

Keywords: Computer Science , Privacy , Tech Ethics