1. Send it to everyone you know.
2. Make a Google Maps mash-up out of the data.
Much of socialmedialand was rubbing its hands with glee this morning at the news that the British National Party’s membership list had been leaked on the Internet and was freely available for anyone to download. A lot of people were fairly unsympathetic, to say the least. One respected journalist said:
Oh look – there’s one down my road – I might go round for a punch-up [
I'll spare the author's blushes.update: I was scanning and failed to recognise the irony in Scott's remark. however, this was indicative of many other comments I've seen - use the search link for proof - I hesitate to name and shame for obvious reasons.]
The BNP is a Nationalist party which supports the repatriation of immigrants to the UK, especially ones that don’t have white skin. They are typically poor, ill-educated racists, in other words.
Revealing the names of members could have serious implications for their work, relationships and safety. There are apparently a number of police officers on the list, for example, and there are already calls for their dismissal. [I am not saying that is a bad thing].
Before long, one ingenious soul had created a Google Maps mash-up to show the locations of everyone on the list. (It’s now been taken down, since the author realised that though he’d made the locations imprecise, people were reading the map as pinpointing exact locations.)
I’ve got no truck with the BNP or any of its policies, but this is quite clearly a terrible idea.
Why?
Imagine if the boot was on the other foot. Imagine if one of the dozens of CD-ROMs routinely lost by the government was found and posted onto the Internet. Maybe including, say, your wage or any criminal convictions. You would be outraged and very worried (especially if you did have a conviction).
One definition of ethical behaviour, a very good one I think, is that when you legislate, you should do so as if you were legislating for everybody. If you say it’s OK to publish the names and addresses of people you disagree with or hate onto the Internet, you should recognise that you’re saying that that it would be OK for someone else to do the same thing to you. If you were behaving ethically.
I think most of us agree with the general principle that people have a right to privacy. We become very angry when CD-ROMs are lost or advertising networks are found to be collecting data about our browsing habits without permission.
It’s a good principle. So let’s stick to it.
Damn you Delaney! You’ve ruined our fun… but yes, you do make the right point. Misuse of personal data is wrong, even if it’s the BNP. It’s a good job they have the Human Rights Act to protect them, poor lambs.
I totally disagree with you on one point. “Revealing the names of members could have serious implications for their work, relationships and safety.”
No. No. Their membership is what would threaten their job (especially coppers and teachers) NOT that it’s revealed. And one has to wonder why they’re not proud of their political affiliation.
Thanks, Dan.
A racist copper or teacher is clearly a *bad* copper/teacher and should go. Unless they are somehow able to bury that in their working existence. I know I am able to bury my murderous desires at work. So far.
Do these people lead double lives? Is it like being a transvestite judge? The people need to know.
Ian, spare a thought for those on the receiving end of all the anonymous hate that the BNP has sanctioned and encouraged down the years (not to say its long track record of violent members).
I’m no anti-fascist campaigner but I’ve had a small slice of their particular brand of low-grade intimidation. And I’ve seen people whose kids are the wrong skin colour have their children beaten up walking home from school in places the BNP finds a home.
I like to think that when they’re down we should keep kicking them. Because they sure as hell wouldn’t think twice about what they’d do to you or me if – God forbid – they came anywhere near real power.
And I think you could make a public interest case for revealing their names, but not addresses, etc. – purely on the grounds that it reveals serving police and prison officers who are proscribed from membership.
At least I hope a jury would make the right call.
[...] Butcher of TechCrunch became unusually and increasingly self-important as the day progressed, Ian Delaney hit the nail on the head and at times LolGriffin seemed like the sanest thing out [...]
The BNP is a legal political party while I may not agree with their policies I would defend the right of anyone to be a member of it, if they so choose.
All this hysteria about who is a member .Where does it all end? This is a free country (last time I checked) They can be in it if they wish!
They’ll get bored eventually when they can’t gain any real political power.