US attorney general William Barr says Americans should accept security risks of encryption backdoors

US attorney general William Barr says Americans should accept security risks of encryption backdoors
July 23, 2019
https://techcrunch.com/2019/07/23/william-barr-consumers-security-risks-backdoors/

ABC News: US attorney general says encryption creates security risk

 

Not surprising.

 

I suggest you guys not to use facebook, whatsapp etc...

 

What... like by paying some foreign national to concoct a bunch of slanderous unfounded accusations about an American citizen, which the DOJ and FBI then use to solicit a covert surveillance order from a FISA court allowing them to spy on our domestic political enemies?

Naw, that could never happen.

[Sorry, no more comments of that nature from me even if others reply in kind. The irony was simply too rich.]

 

A "back door" in encryption?
It really wouldn't be encryption then, would it?
Wouldn't it become pseudo-encryption?
Non-encryption encryption.

 

New face, same BS.

 

What is funny is that they make it like you may have a choice.
The thing is already running, they just need the masses "acknowledgement" to make it public, like Microsoft telemetry which was already there on earlier Windows

 

If everyone's smartphone was taken away they'd be outraged.
Then a day, a week or a month later they'd take a real good look around.

And then they would be OUTRAGED!!!


Smartphones are the opiates of the masses.

 

There is so many ways to get to data even if reliable encryption is used. Maybe just don't be lazy, do your job, stop making excuses and don't shortcuts?

 

OK, so I remember, in the early 90s, I was lugging an old Toshiba 386 laptop around. I rarely saw anyone else with one. Power outlets in public places were rare. So were phone lines with RJ11 sockets. And so an acoustic-coupled modem was part of the kit.

Later, in the early 00s, I had a Qualcom smartphone. With a folding keyboard. Cellphones were common by then, but I ~never saw others with smartphones.

And now, yes, maybe half the people who I see in public places are glued to their smartphones. But mostly they're just "watching mindless TV" in a new format.

But then, I am using a computer most of the time I'm awake, so who am I to talk?

 

Powers that be: Mission Accomplished.

 

There is no shades of gray in encryption.

Either you have full encryption that protects everyones communication
or you don't and everyones communication is laid bare to snoop and store.

 

Jon Callas, cofounder of the PGP encryption software and the Silent Circle secure messaging and phone systems, has done an excellent in-depth analysis of why such a system is impossible to set up at scale in such a way that only law enforcement could use it.

 

The Encryption Debate Is Over - Dead At The Hands Of Facebook

https://www.forbes.com/sites/kalevl...debate-is-over-dead-at-the-hands-of-facebook/

 

That's going to make rooting Androids & using other Linux OS's critical to those that care about shielding themselves somewhat. I'm convinced complete privacy is impossible.

 

Indeed there is no such things, I keep saying that here since ages and I get flagged as accomplice of the system, ok no problem, I don't care because I'm not a naive fool hoping things will change.

Surrender this fight, it is already over, you were absent when it started, it is now too late to complain. Resistance is futile.

 

I will never give up. I don't own a smart tv or alexa/siri/etc. self installed voluntary spying devices.

I'll continue to take little steps towards safeguarding my privacy [I know] but those might yield little by little. Either by myself or technology.

And if the Luddite movement comes back in a big way who knows....

 

I don't know why we should give up. Yes there is no 100% privacy so does that mean that we should give it up entirely? I guess that since there is no 100% security we should also give it up entirely?
We should complain and resist otherwise they will try to take away that little that was left. If you gave up it doesn't mean that we should all just give up also.

 

I don't give up because I never had to fight. As far as I am concerned, i just don't have any reason to hide, and if in the future, I would have one, it will be easy to me to reduce my footprint to just insignificant things. I don't fight unwinnable fights, I dodge and remain unseen.

Lately I saw lot of keyboard warriors here and there, excelling at bashing tech giants and other entities, but what they really do? Nothing but keep using the services of those they bash... Ridiculously ludicrous.

 

Starting with Microsoft's Windows. lulz

 

@guest -- I don't understand your position on privacy. On the one hand, you say that it's hopelessly lost/unattainable. And that you "don't fight unwinnable fights". But then you say that, if you did need to hide, "it will be easy to me to reduce my footprint to just insignificant things." And that you would "dodge and remain unseen".

I certainly agree that we have no privacy now. By default. Unless we actively protect it. And I do believe that, with care and effort, it is possible to have much more privacy online. But I also agree that it's unrealistic to think that providers will give us privacy, if we just demand it hard enough.

So maybe our positions aren't really that different. But I could be projecting

 

@mirimir what I meant is that expecting full privacy (and hoping govs will help) now is fool dream, and I get annoyed by those who keep bashing the giant techs now that it is trendy but were silent when the same giants put in place those "intrusions".

Right now I don't care of privacy because I have nothing to hide (to law enforcement), but who knows one day I may do something illegal and need to disappear, in such case, I set up a plan already and won't easily be found.

 

I won't quote you so you can edit. You're welcome.

 

@guest - OK, cool We have almost the same position. Except that I still bash governments and tech giants, and always have. I use them, but with precautions. And except that I do have a little to hide.

 

Maybe I'm old style, but I don't bash what I need whatever good or bad it is.
Bashing mean strongly disliking, so I don't use what I strongly dislike.
Just my point of view.