[Jamie89]

I think protecting freedoms/privacy is one thing and protecting lives is another, and there has to be a balance. If the police wanted to look at my whatsapp messages because they suspected something I'd be fine with that, even though it's giving up my privacy to an extent, there could be a situation in the future where they view someone else's and they stop something that might save my life. It's not as though anyone and everyone would be able to view that kind of stuff, if it was just the police and any data was handled privately. And I think that's why we have the police, to keep us protected and to act as people we can trust, and as the world becomes more and more online, we need a police presence there just as much as we need police patrolling the streets, that's just the world now.

[Tom4784]

Originally Posted by Jamie89

I think protecting freedoms/privacy is one thing and protecting lives is another, and there has to be a balance. If the police wanted to look at my whatsapp messages because they suspected something I'd be fine with that, even though it's giving up my privacy to an extent, there could be a situation in the future where they view someone else's and they stop something that might save my life. It's not as though anyone and everyone would be able to view that kind of stuff, if it was just the police and any data was handled privately. And I think that's why we have the police, to keep us protected and to act as people we can trust, and as the world becomes more and more online, we need a police presence there just as much as we need police patrolling the streets, that's just the world now.

It saddens and enrages me how people are so willing to throw their liberties and rights away for a false sense of security. No respect for the cost people have paid for those rights to exist.

[Jamie89]

Originally Posted by Dezzy

It saddens and enrages me how people are so willing to throw their liberties and rights away for a false sense of security. No respect for the cost people have paid for those rights to exist.

I don't see it as giving up rights and freedoms that people have fought for though, if the police have reason to suspect something and they search your whatsapp or something else as a result, is it really that different to them getting a warrant to search your house, or searching someone on the street? It's just a different methods of doing the same thing? I'm not saying that the government should have full access to everything and spy on us without reason, so we'd still have the same privacy rights in that respect.

[Tom4784]

Originally Posted by Jamie89

I don't see it as giving up rights and freedoms that people have fought for though, if the police have reason to suspect something and they search your whatsapp or something else as a result, is it really that different to them getting a warrant to search your house, or searching someone on the street? It's just a different methods of doing the same thing? I'm not saying that the government should have full access to everything and spy on us without reason, so we'd still have the same privacy rights in that respect.

It's a slippery slope, you can't prevent crime without going into practices that can infringe on people's rights. You can only respond to it. It's something that would be open to abuse.

Private information like that should only be accessed in the example I provided in my original post.

[thesheriff443]

Originally Posted by Dezzy

It's a slippery slope, you can't prevent crime without going into practices that can infringe on people's rights. You can only respond to it. It's something that would be open to abuse.

Private information like that should only be accessed in the example I provided in my original post.

Security services and private individuals already hack people's accounts, I know someone that was working for a firm in South Africa they where probing a ten million pound robbery, two gun men came in and shot her and nine others she survived with another guy they now live here, most banks have a security system that's passes every fifteen minutes, she can hack into any account and leave no trace, she was offered a six figure some to work in the states, they have to take a lie detector test every six months.

[user104658]

Originally Posted by Jamie89

I don't see it as giving up rights and freedoms that people have fought for though, if the police have reason to suspect something and they search your whatsapp or something else as a result, is it really that different to them getting a warrant to search your house, or searching someone on the street? It's just a different methods of doing the same thing? I'm not saying that the government should have full access to everything and spy on us without reason, so we'd still have the same privacy rights in that respect.

You've just said it yourself, though. They need a warrant to search your house. The same should apply here.

[Jamie89]

Originally Posted by Toy Soldier

You've just said it yourself, though. They need a warrant to search your house. The same should apply here.

Yeah, like I say there should be reason for doing it, so getting a warrant of some sort based on whatever reasoning they have would probably be best (although they don't need warrants for things like stop and search which is also an invasion of privacy, the house searching was just one example)... we already have our privacy invaded in a number of ways it's just not so prevalent in the online world and I think that's more just to do with security services not catching up with how the world has changed over recent years rather than it being because those things are very different in principle to how they already investigate people and situations.