{"id":1152,"date":"2014-09-11T08:16:20","date_gmt":"2014-09-11T08:16:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.privateinternetaccess.com\/blog\/?p=1152"},"modified":"2020-08-26T15:17:12","modified_gmt":"2020-08-26T22:17:12","slug":"new-catastrophic-privacy-leak-highlights-how-nudes-are-nothing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.privateinternetaccess.com\/blog\/new-catastrophic-privacy-leak-highlights-how-nudes-are-nothing\/","title":{"rendered":"New Catastrophic Privacy Leak Highlights How Nudes Are Nothing"},"content":{"rendered":"

A criminal group has obtained personal details for one of Sweden\u2019s largest anonymous forums. Done to scare, intimidate, and out political opponents discussing under protection of anonymity, the collateral damage is immeasurable.<\/strong><\/p>\n

People were never fired for having private photos exposed. However, people have been fired, evicted, and divorced for having private opinions<\/em> exposed \u2013 and still are. This highlights the asymmetry of which privacy leaks are reported on widely (nude photos) and which ones aren\u2019t (anonymity breaches). It\u2019s disheartening to see the strong focus of oldmedia on anything remotely sexual, combined with the total lack of interest for things that build (or threaten) the foundations of society.<\/p>\n

Anonymity is one such foundation. The ability to express oneself anonymously is a key tenet of Freedom of Speech, unless you\u2019re into the Cuban version:<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course you have freedom of speech, but I cannot guarantee freedom AFTER speech.\u201d \u2014 Fidel Castro<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Opinions must be able to exist without holding somebody\u2019s accountable for them, or society won\u2019t evolve.<\/p>\n

Everybody\u2019s nude from time to time. Children are made, as evidenced by, well, children. While it\u2019s supposed to be kept private, nobody\u2019s really surprised or shocked that it does happen, so when photos surface from time to time (as behavior patterns have shifted to take photos of everything today), it\u2019s embarrassing \u2013 but not much more.<\/p>\n

When the wrong opinions surface, it ends somebody\u2019s career, roof, and marriage. What\u2019s worse \u2013 this consequence is sometimes the very purpose<\/em> of those who seek to identify somebody behind a political, but anonymous, opinion. But anonymous opinions are as crucial to democracy as secret elections.<\/p>\n

Freedom of Speech can be summarized as \u201cThe right of utter morons to be completely wrong\u201d. And to clarify: that\u2019s a GOOD thing.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Freedom of Speech was never needed to protect mainstream opinions: expressing that kittens are cute and that Game of Thrones takes much too long between seasons. And when somebody respected says something thoroughly despicable, they\u2019re still protected by the establishment. However, when somebody despised says something totally disagreeable, that\u2019s<\/em> where Freedom of Speech comes in to protect the statement.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what Freedom of Speech is for<\/em>.<\/p>\n

For in the end, it may turn out in one of two ways: either the despised were wrong, in which case, no harm done. Or they were right, in which case they have done a great service to civilization by taking the risk of exposing themselves with a controversial statement.<\/p>\n

Examples of such statements that could just up until recently have ended somebody\u2019s career, marriage, and housing:<\/p>\n