It is embarrassing: Barack Obama will be arriving in Berlin for only the second time, but his visit is coming just as we are learning that the US president is a snoop on a colossal scale. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said that she will speak to the president about the surveillance program run by the National Security Agency, and the Berlin Interior Ministry has sent a set of 16 questions to the US Embassy. But Obama need not be afraid. German Interior Minister Hans Peter Friedrich, to be sure, did say: "That's not how you treat friends." But he wasn't referring to the fact that our trans-Atlantic friends were spying on us. Rather, he meant the criticism of that spying.
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
No words minced …
… Europe Must Stand Up to American Cyber-Snooping - SPIEGEL ONLINE.
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Frank, we discussed this on email the other day and I think it bears repetition. I am impressed that you have come out on the side of privacy in this debate. This is what you said: "I am on the side of privacy. The idea that you can, to any great extent, prevent criminals from doing bad deeds is pretty lame. And to pay for it with your freedom and privacy is lamer still."
ReplyDeleteI think your admirers (and critics) need to know this.