When is public information private?

Little like Napster when it was young software, amazing what it could do, but banned after a grace period. It was just incredible what Napster could do. Just because it is possible now to track Elon, and publicize his whereabouts, doesn't mean it the right thing for society. However, give the guy credit and hire him.

 

Well in my mind, this question has taken a HUGE jump recently on the potential importance scale.

The segment of our society that would LOVE to rule over all the rest of us by brute force seems to be coming out of the closet
and somehow thinking that is the "right" thing to do.

The really troubling part about that is that some really GOOD people have to go along with it to make it happen.

And the best way to ensure that it happens is to make "the other side" genuinely afraid that they will be hunted down one at a time and eliminated as a "problem".

That is much easier if they get their foot into the door of Government again and have quick and easy tools to track those who they don't like.

I think history classes need to forget about who defeated whom and where in battle and instead concentrate on the EVIL that started the war in the first place. They need to study the early days of Hitler as he was just coming into power.

Then......the churches need to have "Satan study" classes.......because knowing what "good" is is only half the battle.
You must also be able to identify EVIL.

The IRS intends to start using "face prints" in their online security.
This scares the hell out of me.

But I only have another 10 years or so probably.
I hope those of you who are younger wake up and smell the sulfur before it is too late.

 

Flightaware.com already handles this situation quite well.

Anyone can buy a subscription to their site and get all sorts of info and alerts on the movement of any civilly-registered aircraft worldwide.

The owners of the aircraft have the option of purchasing an exclusive subscription- meaning they will be the only party allowed to see data pertaining to their own airplane.

This setup seems to be working just fine for all parties, has been this way for years.

 

5k? musk can't be all that bothered

 

If Musk was really pissed about it, he could just hire someone to post this kids location and what he's doing every 10 minutes or so. What's good for one is good for the other also, right?

 

But it isn't really the same.

Legally operating a civil aircraft necessarily creates a paper trail, and some of that data is public. All the kid is doing is making that paper trail more convenient to access than usual.

Where the kid is, and what he is doing? None of that is automatically public. It might be considered such if he's in a public space, but as soon as he steps onto private property can change.

Musk wants the convenience of traveling with a private jet. He could choose the relative privacy of many other modes of travel.

So I'm with you in the sense that Musk really ought to build a bot to track's the kid's private jet... once he has one. Until then he should either tolerate the tracker, pay to have several jets making decoy trips, or just pay the kid his asking price.

 

This is a really good question, and I am not sure where I come down on it.
In the specific case you mention, I would assume that the kid’s place of residence IS public information. If he attends a public school, that information, along with his use of public streets is also public.

That said, I do believe that such behavior by Musk, the kid, or anyone else should be illegal.
Currently, I believe there are laws on the books about ‘doxxing’.
To me, there is a difference between finding such information, and widely distributing it.

 

If I were Musk, I'd spend a million before I gave that kid a dime....
Pay the kid off and the next day there'd be a line of people looking for payoffs

 

Quite right.

Fact is, the only reason this is still a problem for Musk is that he wants to use that one jet over and over again. If he rented a different one for each hop, none of this would be a problem for him.

Again, Musk vs. the kid isn't really about privacy, it's about convenience.

 

Hmmm. How many car owners regularly take taxis to get where they want to go?
I don't think it is outlandish for him to expect to be able to take his plane for trips.

His stated issue, however, isn't privacy. It is about security. But it does raise the question of public vs private information.

 

I'll go with "all the ones who don't want their own vehicle descriptions & license plates to be seen or recorded on a given journey."

And he should know better than to attempt security-through-obscurity.

 

So if someone has threats on their life, they shouldn’t be bothered if their schedule and destinations are widely & easily accessible? It would seem to me obscurity would be an important part of security or at least peace of mind.

If someone started disseminating me schedule and locations, I think it would make me uneasy. And I don’t even have any threats on my life.

 

Not at all what I said.

Life is messy, and it is also full of choices that can make it less so. He's got a lot of other options for improving his personal security. Plenty of other celebrities and public figures have similar scrutiny on their movement. It's not a new problem at all.

If a small-town police chief and swimming pool technician can figure out that they shouldn't use their official vehicles when they meet at the no-tell motel, I think Mr. Musk can get a clue.

 

In this case where these actions are directed at an individual (Elon Musk), this also begins to touch elements of harassment and stalking. If I am this kid's parent, we would be having some serious talks about the teenager immediately changing his behavior or having some parental directed consequences. I didn't notice the age of the teenager, but his parents could be getting some rude surprises about parental responsibility for their minors' actions.

 

At least you THINK that is the case.
If the data is stored, it can be accessed by "the Government" either legally or otherwise.

 

This isn’t a question of hiding illicit behavior. It is a question of security.
I also don’t believe it was a Tesla owned plane (but it could have been).

In the scenario you posit, I agree with you.
In a case in which the police chief is reporting to the mayor about a threat on his life, should the chief’s schedule and location be widely distributed?

Please note, I don’t know the answer.
It is a very intriguing question. I would vote it as one of the best questions (not car related) ever on this site

 

My investment company of choice uses voice recognition. Oddly, I can not email them a letter and then confirm by voice print that it is me and yes I sent it but instead must go through the pain of reading the entire three page letter of charities I want donated to out of my RMD/401k before they will acknowledge the request as legit. Same darn list every year, same rigamarole every time.