Homeland Sec Approp Chair Rep.John Carter Worried Computers Could Use Encryption

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

In response to FBI Director Comey's warnings about cell phone encryption:

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https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20150325/17430330432/fbi-quietly-removes-recommendation-to-encrypt-your-phone-as-fbi-director-warns-how-encryption-will-lead-to-tears.shtml

Rep. John Carter, Chair of Homeland Security Appropriations, considered the possibility of this "monster" being created:

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www.boingboing.net/2015/03/27/top-homeland-security-congress.html

[Indy Texas]

Clearly we just need to clog up all of our Internet Tubes so that the hackers can't get through them.

[Sumner 1868]

What? But I thought that we had to accept that we would be spied on telecommunications as if we were East Germans and have drones monitor us because "technological change" made it "inevitable." But, when technological change ruins this New Age, it's dangerous?

Hypocrites, all. Comey should resign in shame.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Has this moron ever made a credit card purchase on the Internet? What was he hiding?

[Simfan34]

He's quite right, this sort of technology will only help illegal activity as regular people are already handing over this information to marketers, encryption or no encryption. Tor, for example, is mainly used for drug purchases and downloading child pornography- this secrecy accompanies criminal behaviour.

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

Strong encryption is necessary to protect against identity theft and other crimes, especially now that cellphones double as mobile wallets. Electronic fraud is a huge problem -- social security numbers, account numbers, personally identifiable data and more are stolen on a seemingly daily basis from companies that used lax (or no) encryption. Encryption stops far more crime than it enables.

Further: There is no such thing as a safe backdoor. Any security hole left for the police is subject to exploit by criminals. And they will exploit it.

Tor, for example, is mainly used for drug purchases and downloading child pornography- this secrecy accompanies criminal behaviour.

That's absolute bullshit. The vast majority of Tor use is by those of us who actually care about maintaining their privacy on the Internet and keeping their search history out of the hands of third parties.

[Deus Naturae]

Too bad for him and his friends, encryption technology is only going to get more advanced as time goes on. Once public key encryption becomes widespread, not only will it be next to impossible for governments to spy on their citizens, but we will achieve the greatest level of personal privacy yet seen in human history. Not only will we be freed from spying and censorship, but a whole array of restrictive government policies (licensing regimes designed to restrict certain professions and activities, taxes on transactions and income derived thereof, IP protections designed to restrict access to ideas and media, and yes, laws against certain substances etc). David Friedman (son of Milton) explains this pretty well here.

It'll be great for decent people who are content to let other people live their lives and go about their business without state harassment or persecution; not so much for the rogue's gallery of sociopaths, control freaks, and paranoid fearmongers who control the apparatus of government.

[TNF]

He's quite right, this sort of technology will only help illegal activity as regular people are already handing over this information to marketers, encryption or no encryption. Tor, for example, is mainly used for drug purchases and downloading child pornography- this secrecy accompanies criminal behavior.

FTFY.

Tor is perfectly legitimate, unless of course you're okay with the state snooping around. I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with being upset about your privacy rights being violated. If someone gets away with some illicit activity because they've used masking software, so be it. Those types are small fries compared to the state which incarcerates young people en masse for the possession and use of harmless substances such as marijuana, for making a copy of a copyrighted work (heaven forbid!) and that engages in policies which causes the early death of hundreds of thousands of people every year by denying them adequate access to shelter, food, etc.

[tik 🪀✨]

It's almost adorable how blown away this guy is by something so old and fundamental to computer security as encryption.

He does make a good point about hiding yourself from the government though. We ought to outlaw tinted windows, fences, and clothes while we're at it.

[SteveRogers]

He does make a good point about hiding yourself from the government though. We ought to outlaw tinted windows, fences, and clothes while we're at it.

Wasn't some state literally trying to ban hoodies for this exact reason?

[publicunofficial]

He does make a good point about hiding yourself from the government though. We ought to outlaw tinted windows, fences, and clothes while we're at it.

Wasn't some state literally trying to ban hoodies for this exact reason?

Oklahoma had a bill that didn't go anywhere, but I believe it was 50% that reason, 50% barely hidden racism (I believe it came up during the Martin/Zimmerman controversy)

[Antonio the Sixth]

Imagine a world where the government can't spy on the everyday lives of any private citizen... Terrifying, isn't it?

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

It's almost adorable how blown away this guy is by something so old and fundamental to computer security as encryption.

He does make a good point about hiding yourself from the government though. We ought to outlaw tinted windows, fences, and clothes while we're at it.

Sadly enough, we had the same kind of handwringing debate over encryption back in the 1990s. The U.S. briefly required, by law, the intentional downgrading of encryption on any product shipped overseas.

[Cory]

Every time I hear something, or something just pops in my head -- because I don't know anything about this stuff. If they can do that to a cell phone why can't they do that to every computer in the country, and nobody can get into it?

Just in case that wasn't obvious.