Tag Archives: Privacy

Recently, The Washington Post published an editorial suggesting that Apple, Google, and other smart phone manufacturers provide a golden key to allow law enforcement access to locked phones. “Golden Key,” of course, is just a euphemism for a backdoor. It’s … Continue reading →

When arguing that they be given some new extraordinary power, governments always say, “You can trust us not to abuse this power.” It always turns out to be a lie. Here, from Britain—a democratic country by any honest person’s definition—is … Continue reading →

For those who have been off-planet and haven’t heard the news, Apple’s iOS 8 encrypts the contents of users’ iPhone and iPads in such a way that only the user—not Apple—can access it. That means that Apple can no longer … Continue reading →

A recurrent theme around here has been the need to give crypto-enabled apps a user interface that is transparent to Aunt Millie. This is important because no matter how well-protected the geeks make themselves, no one is truly safe until … Continue reading →

According to Betteridge’s law the answer should be no but Bruce Schneier isn’t so sure. We’ve heard the speculation about a second leaker responsible for revealing the details of the TAO catalog, X-KEYSTORE rules, and the tapping of Angela Merkel’s … Continue reading →

Yesterday, I wrote about the logical conclusion of government surveillance in democracies. If you’re wondering what the end result looks like in the large, here’s the answer. The most horrifying part of the linked story is: Singapore’s program is modeled … Continue reading →

I’ve been writing, recently, about surveillance abuses in the United States. Just in case my European pals are imagining that this is an NSA problem that mainly concerns America with a few residual casualties in Europe, consider this logical conclusion … Continue reading →

Jon Evans over at TechCrunch makes the case that America should give Edward Snowden a medal. To many, of course, that’s a non-starter; Snowden is the ultimate traitor doing his best to harm his country. Cooler heads, including Evans, are … Continue reading →

Last March, I wrote about revelations that the CIA was spying on the U.S. Senate. At the time, CIA head John Brennan denied the allegation and heaped scorn on the very idea. Now, Brennan has admitted that, well yes, they … Continue reading →

Here in the United States, the EFF is prosecuting a suit on the NSA’s indiscriminate collection of Americans’ private digital communications. In 2008 they filed the Jewel v. NSA case alleging that the NSA’s wholesale vacuuming up of Americans’ communications … Continue reading →