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Comment by CM30 | Hacker News Reader

Hmm, not a fan of this idea. Feels like it's encouraging vigilantism and 'taking the law into your own hands', which is not something a well run society should be incentivising. I mean, it seems like someone who hacked another person or organisation's systems to remove private data could end up wrecking a bunch of other things, which wouldn't be good for anyone.

And then what if its a case of mistaken identity? You don't really have proof the data you're trying to erase is on the other party's system until you break into it, which could then leave the other party extremely annoyed and wanting to do the same back...

Eh, just feels like companies and individuals wanting to become internet vigilantes if you ask me.

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>Feels like it's encouraging vigilantism and 'taking the law into your own hands', which is not something a well run society should be incentivising.

No, citizens acting on their own and society's behalf should always be incentivized versus infantilizing everyone into helplessness and dependence. A home intruder being summarily despatched by an armed homeowner, for example, is a far superior outcome than the homeowner suffering whatever the intruder subjects him to while hoping the "authorities" intervene on his behalf. Not to mention the improbability of any true justice being delivered via the legal system.

Nothing wrong with self defence, but there's a difference between fighting against/potentially killing an intruder who was going to hurt you/did hurt you and hunting them down once they'd stolen the goods and blasting their head in with a shotgun.

Hacking back feels less like the former and more like the latter (ala vigilante lynch mob going after someone who'd done wrong in the past).

Also, what is the context of the hacking?

Copying of intellectual property, or hijacking CPU/GPU cycles for crypto mining?

I agree that the police and justice system in the US feels slow, ineffective, and biased, but I think that trying to fix it so that everyone can depend on it is the opposite of helplessness.

> trying to fix it

there's no amount of police budget that could save a person from an home intrusion.

however there's some worth in doing prevention trough welfare and mental health programs.

Companies could just pay a government organization to do the hacking for them, in a legitimate way.

In fact, it's a bit strange that law enforcement doesn't work that way. If my car is stolen, the police takes little to no action; but what if I could pay them to give the case more priority?

Please see OCP from the original movie Robocop.

So, if somebody "stole" your identity, and was able to drain your bank account and credit card, would you no longer be able to report that your car is stolen, since you lack the funds to do so?

Or, do you ask your family and friends to borrow money, so you can file a police report?

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