Saturday, June 17, 2017

Encryption vs. Privacy

This has been a subject that I have been blogging about for some time.

On a personal note I don't really care about my own privacy. I can make myself as anonymous as I require. I am aware that anything you do online is potentially there for anyone to see. The use of end-to-end encryption is something that I have been interested in from an academic perspective, although I don't have a requirement for such methods myself.

There have been those that have suggested that end-to-end encryption be banned as it denies the LEAs the ability to detect the planning of terrorists. However, there are others that continue to promote the use of such methods to keep us all safe.

Many make a big deal about privacy, I personally don't really care that there are people "listening in" to what I have to say. I am not doing anything that could be construed as illegal or a threat to my security or anybody else's. Encryption and security part and parcel of how we all carry on business over the Internet, otherwise whose that see fit to exploit us would have a much easier job.

The use of encryption is essential for the operation of electronic communication and business transactions. Without it everything would laid bare. There is no "half-way-house", you cannot suggest that communication platforms, such as Snapchat, do away with the use of encryption or insist that "backdoors" be inserted into all manner of software.

The banking community is also ready to embrace Blockchain technology to make transactions more secure in the future. The concept of a "Distributed Ledger" kinda flies in the face of those that both condemn the actions of terrorists and those that use BitCoin on the Dark Web. They are all intrinsically entwined with the extensive use of cryptography and encryption.

The problem is that all this technology has gone far beyond the level of understanding of those that we elect to govern us. All we get are nonsense statements  and "knee-jerk" reactions at the latest crisis. These include hacking attacks and terrorism.

Privacy is just an additional benefit of all this and something that cannot be sacrificed for an increase in matters that "keep us safe".

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