"For words, like nature, half reveal and half conceal the soul within" (Tennyson).

Showing posts with label privacy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label privacy. Show all posts

Sunday, October 12, 2025

Who is Entitled to Privacy?

I've been thinking about death and fame in the aftermath of another celebrity's passing. Though her family has requested privacy, I'm sure we'll start to hear more about the cause of Diane Keaton's death soon. Rumors of her declining health are already beginning to trickle out. 

Does knowing how someone died matter? Whenever a well-known figure dies and the family requests privacy, I find myself struggling with this question. If a person down the street, who I may know by name but am otherwise not involved with personally, suddenly dies, I may feel sadness or empathy, but I'm certainly not entitled to the details of their passing. 

But when a celebrity suddenly dies? The word "entitled" may be too strong, but there is a sense that loss of privacy comes with the territory. This is a person who long ago made a kind of bargain with fame. The benefits of fame may be many, but the costs are often high. One of the costs is privacy. And when a celebrity's cause of death isn't disclosed, questions and speculations are inevitable. 

Anyway, whatever the cause, it's looking more and more as if she had a complicated end. 

May she rest in peace.

****

Diane Keaton January 5, 1946 - October 11, 2025

Thursday, June 6, 2013

We're Gonna Need a Bigger Boat

I think this is bigger than we initially thought (new acronym: PRISM, which stands for. . . ?). 
  Some initial reports: 
From The Guardian: "NSA Taps into Internet Giants' System to Mine Users Data."

From The Washington Post: "NSA Slides Explain the PRISM Data-Collection Program."

From The Washington Post: "U.S. Mining Data from 9 Leading Internet Firms; Companies Deny Knowledge."
Here are a couple of screen shots of the no-longer "top secret" slides from NSA: