Proposition
rebuttal speech
Ladies and Gentlemen, we are being deceived by
information technologies. Indeed the comfort they provide seems to prevent us
from raising against their disadvantages .Those disadvantages were described by
my teammate and can’t be denied. The fact is that information technologies
introduced the era of transparency, an era in which everyone can know almost
anything about anyone. Wake up, your privacy is not worth the sacrifice you’re
willing to make ! (Continues below the fold…)
by
YM
Opposition rebuttal speech
On April 3rd
2012, American journalist Paul Miller decided to live for one year without the
Internet. One year without Facebook, one year without tweeting every part of
his life, one year without checking his email dozens of times every day.
Although he felt free at first, he was then assailed by isolation. Transparency
creates and reinforces social links. It is a wide source of information and of
communication. Detaching yourself from it means you don’t live with your time.
Because that’s what today’s world is, a world of communication where
information moves faster than ever. (Continues below the fold…)
by MS
Proposition
rebuttal speech
Ladies and Gentlemen, we are being deceived by
information technologies. Indeed the comfort they provide seems to prevent us
from raising against their disadvantages .Those disadvantages were described by
my teammate and can’t be denied. The fact is that information technologies
introduced the era of transparency, an era in which everyone can know almost
anything about anyone. Wake up, your privacy is not worth the sacrifice you’re
willing to make !
The opposition entices you to believe that CCTV and, more
generally, monitoring can keep the citizens safe. The opposition also brings up
the Boston terrorist attacks, arguing that monitoring enabled the FBI to find
the culprits. If we look at that from a different angle, it’s the proof that
this system is not efficient at all, since those attacks could not be
prevented.
Some might think that even
if these attacks couldn’t be prevented, the fact that the culprits were found
so quickly will deter other terrorists to attack in the future. This is
misjudging the threat. Indeed we are facing a new kind of enemy, people who are
strong-willed and ready to die for what they believe is fair. They are not
afraid of being caught and this is why CCTV is the least of their problems. The
movie “V for Vendetta” illustrates this point very well. In that fiction people
have chosen to sacrifice their privacy so that the government would protect
them, the result was that this government took advantage of people’s fear to
strengthen its power and deprived them of their freedom. The hero “V” led
attacks against the government to show people that someone smart and
strong-willed enough could always make their sacrifice vain. I’m not saying
that terrorists are heros, but their very existence is the proof that
technologies who deprive us from our privacy are not efficient enough to
protect us.
The naïve opposition also seems to believe that it is
easy to compel corporations like Facebook and Google not to misuse the personal
data they get with our use of their services. Unfortunately it is very
difficult for authorities to even check what kind of data they collect from us.
Information technologies brought the average citizens to the era of
transparency and the powerful companies to the era of impunity. Indeed it is
easy for those big companies to hide the data they collect behind complex
encryption algorithms. Even if those powerful corporations didn’t put pressure
on the officials not to look into it, the government would just not be able to enforce the laws
meant to potentially protect people’s privacy.
Another common idea is that all that is part of the changes
currently occurring in the world and we can’t do anything to prevent it.
Progress would be unstoppable. Well, powerful people interfering in peoples’
lives is not progress, it was already a habit of the lords and kings who ruled
Europe until the 19th century using spies to gather information. We are heading
backwards. Information technologies who were supposed to grant freedom of
speech are now being used to spy on average people, to foresee their decisions
before they even thing of making them.
What is even more repealing , is the fact that even those who don’t want
to be part of all that can be spied on. Indeed, as soon as you subscribe to
Facebook for example, some friends will be suggested to you. It means Facebook
has information about you even if you didn’t subscribe to it. Furthermore, the
Google Glass that will soon enough be released, will enable Google to collect
data about those who don’t intend to buy them, thanks to facial recognition.
They will assure you that using those glasses won’t affect your privacy, but do
not be fools, they will!
In the movie “V for Vendetta” people eventually took
to the street to regain their freedom. I understand you have other things to do
than start riots, but you can start smaller by voting for the motion. Thank you
for reading this.
YM
Opposition rebuttal speech
On April 3rd
2012, American journalist Paul Miller decided to live for one year without the
Internet. One year without Facebook, one year without tweeting every part of
his life, one year without checking his email dozens of times every day.
Although he felt free at first, he was then assailed by isolation. Transparency
creates and reinforces social links. It is a wide source of information and of
communication. Detaching yourself from it means you don’t live with your time.
Because that’s what today’s world is, a world of communication where
information moves faster than ever.
This is why I
call hypocrites those who keep criticizing the Internet. This just shows their
unwillingness to accept what is really going on. Transparency has changed
society for the better; we now live in a society where a lot of wonderful
things are made possible. You update your status on Facebook to show you’re
single and that prevents many misunderstandings from happening. And you may
even find your soul mate! Who would spit on that? You may write, “information
is collected about us”, but using free services like Twitter, Facebook or
Google means that you implicitly accept the deal they rely on. Yes, your data
is being exchanged, but after all, who would be willing to pay real cash to
publish their holiday pictures on social networks? Given the option to pay via
credit card to access Google services, I’m sure most people would prefer to
give their personal data. And so would you, you hypocritical people from the
proposition!
It is your
responsibility to control what you publish on social networks, to protect your
privacy. Because that’s the paradox: we
want to say and show everything freely, yet we want to protect our private
life. Social norms have changed, it has become common to share details about
your daily life on social networks. But the truth is Internet users should take
part in being careful about the data they show on-line. Some Internet users share too much: research
shows that 4.8 million people have said they planned to go on a date on
Facebook, enabling burglars to know precisely when they can break into their
house. Were everyone to think before they type, some basic personal information
may be kept secret. What’s more, my fellows from the proposition team seem to
ignore it, but devices have private settings.
All browsers enable users to control on-line tracking. Facebook recently
changed its website in order to make the privacy controls easier to find. You
don’t want everyone to see that picture of you dancing naked? You can just
remove it in one click! Yet 28% of Facebook users share almost all their posts
with more than their circle of friends. You want to have privacy on the
Internet, then get involved in your privacy protection, and remember that
friends of friends actually means thousands of people.
MJ, you wrote
“Observation through security cameras and drones and mobile phone location
sensing represent an enormous potential”: you took the words out of my mouth.
Today, there are cameras on every street corner. That’s the result of the
violent world we live in: terrorist attacks have become an ominous threat that
we have to protect ourselves from. These cameras enhance national and
international security, and also enable the solving of criminal cases. The Boston
bombing investigation has already been brought up in this debate. The suspect
of this attack was captured in four days thanks to crowdsourced intelligence
gathering. If Big Brother is watching us, he comes with all the little brothers
we are, recording everything on our smartphones. Thanks to transparency in the
world, people can provide a great amount of information. In Seattle, the Police
Department created a program where citizens can report when they spot stolen
cars. The network allows you to keep in touch with your friends and family.
Important projects are financially enabled thanks to crowdfunding.
The
interactivity of the Internet and more and more abundant free content empower
us with great tools.
Intrusion in
their privacy is the price people agree to pay in exchange of enjoying the huge
services the Internet provides. So update your Facebook status and tell your
friends you reject this motion!
MS
Our dear proposer uses almost half of the page to explain that it’s not worth sacrifice our privacy because in any way, the strong-willed terrorists are ready to die. Well, that way, I can say that it’s no use hiding your personal information because the powerful spies are always capable to find who you are!
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