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Comment by gmueckl | Hacker News Reader

The problem here is that the law and order politicians world wide pretty consistently follow a pattern that starts by demanding surveillance tools to fight very serious crimes and those crimes only. Once they get that, they eventually start another campaign to allow use of the tools that they now have access to for less serious crimes. After a few cycles of this, you get a massive erosion of citizen rights.

This is called "Salamitaktik" in Germany.

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For anyone else interested in reading more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salami_slicing_tactics

This new technology will improve existing procedures. How can you oppose it?

This new procedure will use existing technologies. How can you oppose it?

>they eventually start another campaign to allow use of the tools that they now have access to for less serious crimes.

Don't forget the part where the useful idiots cheer because "I hate street racers and package thieves" or "I hate cults and drugs" depending on the decade

People aren’t useful idiots for wanting to avoid being victims of crime. They’re rational. Stop trivializing the big negative impact street racing and theft have on people.

They are if they use it to rationalize giving government effectively arbitrary power over them for barely any decrease of crime that victimizes them.

Stop acting like they're using the dragnet in the interest of the citizenry. They're not.

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