The new novel Section 31: Control by TrekBBS's own David Mack is about, amongst other things, the uncontrolled surveillance state. Definitely worth a read and pertinent to this discussion.
As for the Federation not having privacy rights because Starfleet can look up information on their personnel or enter people's quarters -- I think this is a situation where you have to remember that there is a distinction between the rights of a Federation citizen and the rights of a Starfleet officer on active deployment. Just as military officers today give up certain rights and liberties for the duration of their service, so too do Starfleet officers. So, yeah, Captain Picard may be able to order Starfleet Security personnel to search your quarters aboard the starship Enterprise if you're a Starfleet officer on assignment there, but that doesn't mean the Federation Security Agency doesn't need a warrant to search your house if you're a private citizen.
ETA:
This does not address Tenacity's concern. Yes, Starfleet may be a legitimate part of the legislative branch performing some law enforcement functions in some circumstances, but that doesn't mean mean that the executive always has the right to search a person under suspicion. Might does not make right.
Further, if you say someone is "the law," what you are saying is that there is no rule of law, only rule of men.
I don't particularly think that looking up a court record is a violation of privacy or that it is a special privilege afforded only to those who are "the law." Such records are public even today, as I understand it, and any citizen may request them.
Actually, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock established the existence of a law enforcement agency known as Federation Security, which arrested McCoy when he tried to illegally obtain passage to the Genesis Planet. So there are, indeed, space police.
(The novels have expanded a bit on this: the Federation Security Agency is the Federation's primary civilian law enforcement and counterintelligence agency, and is also responsible for protecting the Federation President, making them something akin to a combo of the U.S.'s FBI and Secret Service, or to a combo of the United Kingdom's MI-5 and the Special Branch.)
I mean, it depends on what info they're pulling up.
If you are in a law enforcement agency, law enforcement officers certainly have a right to records of someone's arrest and trials and such.
If you're in a law enforcement agency, that doesn't mean, however, that you ought to have been allowed to keep records of everything about a person. If, for instance, the Federation Security Agency maintains a record of every Federation citizen's web browsing history or purchase history, well, I think that's pretty damn problematic.
As for the Federation not having privacy rights because Starfleet can look up information on their personnel or enter people's quarters -- I think this is a situation where you have to remember that there is a distinction between the rights of a Federation citizen and the rights of a Starfleet officer on active deployment. Just as military officers today give up certain rights and liberties for the duration of their service, so too do Starfleet officers. So, yeah, Captain Picard may be able to order Starfleet Security personnel to search your quarters aboard the starship Enterprise if you're a Starfleet officer on assignment there, but that doesn't mean the Federation Security Agency doesn't need a warrant to search your house if you're a private citizen.
ETA:
This does not address Tenacity's concern. Yes, Starfleet may be a legitimate part of the legislative branch performing some law enforcement functions in some circumstances, but that doesn't mean mean that the executive always has the right to search a person under suspicion. Might does not make right.
Further, if you say someone is "the law," what you are saying is that there is no rule of law, only rule of men.
I don't particularly think that looking up a court record is a violation of privacy or that it is a special privilege afforded only to those who are "the law." Such records are public even today, as I understand it, and any citizen may request them.
Actually, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock established the existence of a law enforcement agency known as Federation Security, which arrested McCoy when he tried to illegally obtain passage to the Genesis Planet. So there are, indeed, space police.
(The novels have expanded a bit on this: the Federation Security Agency is the Federation's primary civilian law enforcement and counterintelligence agency, and is also responsible for protecting the Federation President, making them something akin to a combo of the U.S.'s FBI and Secret Service, or to a combo of the United Kingdom's MI-5 and the Special Branch.)
I mean, it depends on what info they're pulling up.
If you are in a law enforcement agency, law enforcement officers certainly have a right to records of someone's arrest and trials and such.
If you're in a law enforcement agency, that doesn't mean, however, that you ought to have been allowed to keep records of everything about a person. If, for instance, the Federation Security Agency maintains a record of every Federation citizen's web browsing history or purchase history, well, I think that's pretty damn problematic.
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