The right to privacy
October 22nd, 2009 at 3:27 pm by David FarrarThe Herald reports:
A detailed membership list for the far-right British National Party has been leaked, revealing that the white supremacist party’s influence reaches as far as New Zealand.
The list, which contains 16,000 names, many with contact details, was published on the website Wikileaks. Three New Zealanders appeared on the list.
xxxxx from Glenfield, said he had been a member of BNP for six years and was not fazed by his details being made public.
The leadership of the BNP are nasty pieces of work, but I don’t approve of publishing the names and addresses of members of the BNP. People may have joined up on the spot many years ago after attending a meeting before getting to know more about them. Or yes they may fully back the BNP as one gentleman quoted does. But regardless political party membership is essentially a private matter and I think it is regrettable that people have ben hounded over their membership.
It is a slippery slope between that, and revealing who people voted for in an election.
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- Collins on ACC and privacy
October 22nd, 2009 at 3:42 pm
WikiLeaks made it clear that presence on the list doesn’t mean current membership or even agreement with the party’s ideology or policies.
Vote:October 22nd, 2009 at 3:44 pm
Sorry to break the news: there is no privacy any more.
If you think that your National party membership isn’t available to everyone who wants to know, you’re living in dreamland. National can’t even keep their own emails a secret. But the principle is a general one: in our computerised age, privacy is a thing of the past. Get used to it.
[DPF: Well my membership isn't much of a secret
]
Vote:October 22nd, 2009 at 4:13 pm
I would like to throw something into the debate to ponder over.
How about completely abolishing privacy, but making sure that it applies to EVERYBODY and every institution, including the State, the Police, the whole works, i.e. all the issues that are now hidden or semi-hidden just get out in the open, so there is absolutely no point if ‘finding out things’ about anybody as it is available publicly anyway, as is everything about people trying to use other people’s ‘secrets’ to threaten, blackmail or otherwise hurt them. This would of course also greatly affect business and trade as we know it, intellectual property, you name it.
It may sound very silly at first glance, but just think about it.
Vote:October 22nd, 2009 at 4:57 pm
David, there are a couple of junior ranks and a couple of officers who belong to the BNP.
For a long time now before you joined the British army you have to state if you belong to a far right or left organisation.
And you have to tell the powers that be if you join such an organisation.
So those sods lied either before or after they took their oath, we should feel sorry for scum like that ?
Vote:Does this bloke Denis Hounsome hold NZ citizenship, if not are racists the people we want in NZ ?
October 22nd, 2009 at 5:43 pm
Then don’t emigrate to the USA, DPF. They place party affiliation on the electoral roll!
Vote:October 22nd, 2009 at 5:56 pm
Graeme, a bit off topic, but your comment reminds me of a couple of friends of mine in the States, firm Republican voters, are registered Democrats so they can skew the results by their two votes in Democratic primaries!
Vote:October 23rd, 2009 at 12:01 am
That’s almost as bad as releasing the names of women who made accusations of sexual harrasment!
Oh hold on you did that David remember,
Vote:October 23rd, 2009 at 7:46 am
>It is a slippery slope between that, and revealing who people
>voted for in an election.
I agree. If this continues, someday we may even be forced to reveal the names of people who make donations to political parties.
Vote:October 23rd, 2009 at 7:49 am
Lets make people who work for the public service declare yearly which political parties and unions they belong to, starting with the ministerial housing area.
Obfuscating lying cheating communist scum.
Vote:October 23rd, 2009 at 7:58 am
Looks like they will be able to find out everything anyway.
Vote:October 23rd, 2009 at 7:59 am
something to hide commie?
Vote:October 23rd, 2009 at 8:02 am
I think you’ll find Pete this is to remove the total power that Helen Clark retained with respect SIS wire tapping and spying on citizens of NZ.
But I guess its OK if its a totalitarian communist PM doing it, right?
Vote:October 23rd, 2009 at 8:07 am Vote:
October 23rd, 2009 at 8:08 am
@grumpy “For a long time now before you joined the British army you have to state if you belong to a far right or left organisation.”
these days that would all depend on what you recognise as ‘the centre’
Vote:October 23rd, 2009 at 8:53 am
grow some nads commie
Vote:October 23rd, 2009 at 10:09 pm
I don’t give a shit who knows who I voted for during any election that I voted in. I think I was eligible to vote in about 1974ish (born in June 56). For years I was Labour (hell, my upbringing was more left than most of the wankers at the Std) the I got put off by Labour but didn’t like the Nats so dabbled in the likes of the Alliance (what a mistake) MckiddyCully Serious Part (whatever the fkg speliing is) .. then a mix of Labour/ACT now Nat/Nat. I joined the Nats about a month or so before the election and helped out with posters/signs and did a double stint as a scrutineer.
Vote:Why the sudden lurch to the Nats .. simple really, the Labour Party had become a lost sole full of MP’s who embarrassed me. John Key brought hope .. Helen Clark/Cullen made me sick.
I want the labour party to get it’s shit together BUT it has no hope with it’s presen top 10 (check them out for gods sake). When I read the posts on Redalert, I see negativity and hypocrisy.
October 25th, 2009 at 8:18 am
The BNP is a vile racist party we all know that, so how come the recent BBC Question Time had record viewers in its history, the BNP has been on every BBC news program since Thursday, even the Question Time program is being rebroadcast on BBC World with a viewing audience of 450 million people! the BPN man was out of his depth, but of intense interest it would seem.
Vote:Not good to publicise a wacky racist party one would think, but why are people in the UK so fixated by banning the vile racist party? there is no such thing as bad publicity, but surely the BNP is striking a chord in the UK with voters because there is a huge Chasm in the ordinary british peoples needs which are being ruined for their familys?
Illegal immigration, islamaphobia, lack of housing for pensioners, 1200 UK passports being issued a week to overstayers,
This is a real problem for ALL parties not just a small vile racist party.
Thank God we dont pander to our native population by giving out benifits, housing and land oh and the TV rights and opening doors wide to asylum seekers in the same the same way? National is sowing seeds of discontent methinks.