[pp.int.general] Request for common press release

[Amelia Andersdotter]

I have one comment:

We do not need to balance "security" versus "privacy". They are often
the same thing. We are entitled to security not only from terrorism,
but also from the insipid surveillance of our own governments which
they are currently trying to oppose on us.

Being autonomous individuals is a basic premise of having a democratic
society. Being a democratic society means that we have control over
our own lives: we too have a right to decide what happens with the
society we live in. To have control over your life and what you may do
with it makes you secure.

The reasons mugging and terrorism makes us not secure is not that they
are violent events, or that we get robbed of our property, but mostly
because it happens out of our control. We don't have a problem selling
our car voluntarily, for instance, we only have a problem with it
being stolen. We may even give away our property (I've given away
rather a lot of books without remorse) but when it is stolen or burned
(god forbid my books ever burn) or otherwise removed from us without
our choosing, we find it upsetting.

Because this is mostly a control issue, the solution cannot and does
not lie in removing further control from citizens over their lives and
putting it into someone else's hands. We need and require control over
our own lives.

--Amelia

On 05/09/07, Jan Huwald <jh at sotun.de> wrote:
> Hi Pirates,
>
> I request a common press release of the European pirates to the following
> topic. I would come forward to write a first draft, but before I'd like to
> hear your thoughts abut:
>
> Today in Germany a future terror attack has been "prevented". After this, not
> only German antiterror fundamentalists praised their roadmap deeper into the
> surveillance state, also Franco Frattini did. In contrast to local
> politicians his voice may also be heard in your media.
>
> Frattinis speech:
> http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=SPEECH/07/505&format=PDF&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en
>
> The contents of his speech are:
> * balance "fundamental right to security of citizens" against "other
> fundamental rights ... including privacy and procedural rights"
> * set up a central explosives database
> * criminalize deployment of instructions related to building bombs and
> terrorism
> * use PNR data within Europe for prosecution & prevention
> * claims that EU is as much target for terrorism as USA => argues that we need
> to adopt their level of surveillance/control
> * complains about resistance against anti terror measures in parlament, etc.
>
>
> My comments about (and possible content for the press release):
>
> * balance "fundamental right to security of citizens" against "other
> fundamental rights ... including privacy and procedural rights"
> -> it is not suitable to balance one right (anti terror measures) against
> _all_ other; it is an offense to subsume privacy under "other rights"
> -> the right for security is no fundamental right, if it is compared with
> individual freedom, equality in front of the law and human rights at all;
> security is the buzzword used to outpace every human right, not protecting
> any of them
>
> * set up central explosives database
> -> I have no general problem with it but this depends on them implementation
> -> the measure is only of limited use as explosives can be built using
> chemicals available in average households
> -> I think we should drop this point
>
> * criminalize deployment of instructions related to building bombs and
> terrorism
> -> this will criminalize publishing scientists and security researches as
> their researches might be used by terrorists (as almost any technical or
> scientific progress)
> -> information for building bombs is contained in every basic chemistry book
> and can be deducted by individuals even with a limited chemical _or_ physical
> knowledge
> -> using secure channels such information can always be transmitted; the law
> will not prevent those who actually plan attacks
>
> * claims that EU as much target for terrorism as USA => argues that we need to
> adopt their level of surveillance/control
> -> FUCK UP. we need to engage personal rights not the prevention state. I
> think our point is clear here
>
> * use PNR data within Europe for prosecution & prevention
> -> US No Fly list have shown that those instruments are used to punish the
> opposition and have absolutely no effect in terror prevention
> -> we can not tolerate collection profiles of the movement all individuals;
> this always has to be limited to single persons (individual surveillance) not
> the entire population
>
> * complains about resistance against anti terror measures in parlament, etc.
> -> we thank for that democratic attitude and complain that the resistance has
> been broken in the case of IP data retention
>
> I request for your comments.
>
> Regards,
> Jan Huwald
> Political Secretary of the German Pirate Party
>
>
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