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posted by Fnord666 on Monday October 07 2019, @01:06AM   Printer-friendly
from the just-don't-get-it dept.

The broken record: Why Barr's call against end-to-end encryption is nuts

US Attorney General William Barr is leading a charge to press Facebook and other Internet services to terminate end-to-end encryption efforts—this time in the name of fighting child pornography. Barr, acting Secretary of Homeland Security Kevin McAleenan, Australian Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton, and United Kingdom Secretary of State Priti Patel yesterday asked Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to hold off on plans to implement end-to-end encryption across all Facebook Messenger services "without including a means for lawful access to the content of communications to protect our citizens."

The open letter comes months after Barr said in a speech that "warrant-proof" cryptography is "extinguishing the ability of law enforcement to obtain evidence essential to detecting and investigating crimes" and allowing "criminals to operate with impunity, hiding their activities under an impenetrable cloak of secrecy." The new message echoes a joint communiqué issued by the US, UK, Australia, Canada and New Zealand (the "Five Eyes") from July, which stated:

...it is imperative that all sectors of the digital industry including Internet Service Providers, device manufacturers and others to continue to consider the impacts to the safety of children, including those who are at risk of exploitation, when developing their systems and services. In particular, encryption must not be allowed to conceal or facilitate the exploitation of children.

Facebook encryption threatens public safety, say ministers

UK Home Secretary Priti Patel and counterparts in the US and Australia have sent an open letter to Facebook calling on it to rethink its plans to encrypt all messages on its platforms. The policy threatens "lives and the safety of our children", they said. They said it could hamper international efforts to grant law enforcers faster access to private messages on social media, as agreed between the UK and US.

Facebook said "people have the right to have a private conversation online." The head of Facebook-owned WhatsApp Will Cathcart had previously posted on Hacker News: "End-to-end encryption protects that right for over a billion people every day."

Also at NYT.


Original Submission

Related Stories

U.S. EARN IT Act Could Discourage Adoption of End-to-End Encryption 40 comments

Proposed US law is "Trojan horse" to stop online encryption, critics say:

Two Republicans and two Democrats in the US Senate have proposed a law that aims to combat sexual exploitation of children online, but critics of the bill call it a "Trojan horse" that could harm Americans' security by reducing access to encryption. The EARN IT (Eliminating Abusive and Rampant Neglect of Interactive Technologies) Act "would create incentives for companies to 'earn' liability protection for violations of laws related to online child sexual abuse material," an announcement by the bill's supporters said today.

Under current law, Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act provides website operators broad legal immunity for hosting third-party content. A 2018 law known as FOSTA-SESTA chipped away at that immunity for content related to prostitution and sex trafficking, and the EARN IT Act would further weaken immunity for website operators who fail to take certain to-be-determined measures to find and remove child sexual-abuse material.

In a related development today, US Attorney General William Barr gave a speech calling for an analysis of how Section 230 affects "incentives for platforms to address [child sexual exploitation] crimes and the availability of civil remedies to the victims."

[...] Stewart Baker, who was formerly assistant secretary for policy at the Department of Homeland Security and general counsel at the National Security Agency, wrote in a blog post that "there is nothing radical" about the bill. "The risk of liability isn't likely to kill encryption or end Internet security," Baker wrote. But Baker acknowledged that the bill will likely make the decision to offer encryption a more difficult one for tech companies

Related:
U.S. Congress Passes SESTA/FOSTA Law
DoJ Lets Cops Know SESTA/FOSTA Is For Shutting Down Websites, Not Busting Sex Traffickers
Crypto Wars: US AG William Barr and UK Home Secretary Priti Patel Shake Fists at Facebook
Senate Judiciary Committee Interrogates Apple, Facebook about Crypto


Original Submission

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 07 2019, @01:17AM (19 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 07 2019, @01:17AM (#903532)

    Only because the more qualified Elon isn't eligible due to being an immigrant.

    • (Score: 4, Insightful) by barbara hudson on Monday October 07 2019, @01:36AM (17 children)

      by barbara hudson (6443) <barbara.Jane.hudson@icloud.com> on Monday October 07 2019, @01:36AM (#903541) Journal
      My enemy's enemy is not necessarily my friend. That certainly applies to Fuckerburger, Barr, and Patel.

      Zuckerberg only cares about encryption because (1) market share and (2) doesn't have to spend money monitoring users on the things he can't monetize (he already has the info he needs by monitoring your internet use via Facebook share icons all over the Internet).

      Barr and Patel have assholes for bosses; neither has the integrity to do the right thing without a gun to their head.

      It's like the upcoming Canadian election - nobody worth voting for because they all lack integrity on key issues.

      --
      SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.
      • (Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Monday October 07 2019, @02:41AM (14 children)

        by fustakrakich (6150) on Monday October 07 2019, @02:41AM (#903556) Journal

        nobody worth voting for

        So nobody's even looking for someone? Doesn't anybody do their own shopping anymore?

        Facebook said "people have the right to have a private conversation online."

        No matter who says it, it is a true statement. Let's use everything at our disposal to protect that right, and pay no attention to those whining about it.

        --
        La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
        • (Score: 4, Interesting) by c0lo on Monday October 07 2019, @03:17AM (7 children)

          by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Monday October 07 2019, @03:17AM (#903565) Journal

          Facebook said "people have the right to have a private conversation online."

          Let's use everything at our disposal to protect that right, and pay no attention to those whining about it.

          Danger, Will Robinson, danger!
          Many would say whatever you want to hear, without any intentions to follow on their words, though. Because, you know, they stand to profit on not doing what they preach.
          Now, such "everything" as the above will be not only useless, but harming whoever trust them to be "at one's disposal" - because they are simply NOT at our disposal.

          --
          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
          • (Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Monday October 07 2019, @03:27AM (6 children)

            by fustakrakich (6150) on Monday October 07 2019, @03:27AM (#903573) Journal

            because they are simply NOT at our disposal

            Well, they kind of are. We have many alternatives to Facebook, so they (Facebook) are not really an issue. They go their way, we go ours.

            --
            La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
            • (Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 07 2019, @03:57AM

              by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 07 2019, @03:57AM (#903581)

              MySpace? Google Hangouts?

            • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Monday October 07 2019, @04:05AM (4 children)

              by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Monday October 07 2019, @04:05AM (#903584) Journal

              Well, they kind of are.

              Ummm... this said on a discussion thread titled Zuckerberg for President and in reply to a commentary on your Facebook said "people have the right to have a private conversation online."

              What exactly is what you are trying to say in relation to Zuck/Facebook, 'cause sure as hell your positions isn't coherent.

              --
              https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
              • (Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Monday October 07 2019, @04:33AM (3 children)

                by fustakrakich (6150) on Monday October 07 2019, @04:33AM (#903590) Journal

                No, the insanity of voting him for president goes without saying. I don't even consider such an absurd thing, and I recommend against it for very obvious reasons. But I took the good parts and relayed that. For now I am pleased he is using end to end encryption, so he says, not that I could ever verify he really is though, so no I don't trust him in any fashion. I would never take him for his word to seriously protect our privacy. He will simply do what maximizes profit and keeps him out of jail. That's all I ever expected out of him. We just have to move to the alternatives to protect our rights when he fails.

                President? Please! May as well keep what we got...

                --
                La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
                • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Monday October 07 2019, @04:44AM (2 children)

                  by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Monday October 07 2019, @04:44AM (#903597) Journal

                  No, the insanity of voting him for president goes without saying.

                  I've seen enough in my life not to take anything "insane" as "unimaginable many will actually agree with it".

                  I don't even consider such an absurd thing, and I recommend against it for very obvious reasons.

                  In your shoes, I'd be more explicit about. At the very least, it doesn't hurt.

                  President? Please! May as well keep what we got...

                  If forced into a binary choice, I tend to agree. Let's hope it won't come to this.

                  --
                  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
                  • (Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Monday October 07 2019, @05:42AM (1 child)

                    by fustakrakich (6150) on Monday October 07 2019, @05:42AM (#903603) Journal

                    In your shoes, I'd be more explicit about. At the very least, it doesn't hurt.

                    Dwelling on and repeating the self evident is just such a waste. You don't have to read much to know exactly why you would never give him any kind of real power, even though his puppets will be reelected again next year. So I guess it makes no difference. I doubt he knows the meaning of "serve". We are watching a preview of a Mark Zuckerberg presidency right now.

                    --
                    La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
                    • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Monday October 07 2019, @06:16AM

                      by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Monday October 07 2019, @06:16AM (#903609) Journal

                      Dwelling on and repeating the self evident is just such a waste.

                      Your choice.
                      I learned not to take the "self evident" for granted.

                      You don't have to read much to know exactly why you would never give him any kind of real power, even though his puppets will be reelected again next year.

                      Me? True.
                      Others? I trust them not. And boy, are they many or what?

                      --
                      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
        • (Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Monday October 07 2019, @10:52PM (5 children)

          by barbara hudson (6443) <barbara.Jane.hudson@icloud.com> on Monday October 07 2019, @10:52PM (#903882) Journal
          People are looking, but my research of the various candidates is that none of them is willing to stand up against a law they admit is discriminatory and contrary to law. So if they haven't got the integrity to stand up against Quebec's law 21, which discriminates against minority women, fuck them. Ditto with several of them trying to have it both ways on abortion rather than stand up for women's rights to control their own bodies. If you say you are against abortion but you will respect the law, what you're saying is that you'll trade your convictions for votes and power, so you can't be trusted due to a lack of integrity.

          As for Facebook, they already have enough information on everyone, including non-users who haven't given consent, that anything they say about respect for privacy is bullshit.

          --
          SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.
          • (Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Monday October 07 2019, @11:21PM (4 children)

            by fustakrakich (6150) on Monday October 07 2019, @11:21PM (#903891) Journal

            anything they say about respect for privacy is bullshit

            That's self evident. I'm just saying it doesn't make the statement false.

            --
            La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
            • (Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Tuesday October 08 2019, @12:12AM (3 children)

              by barbara hudson (6443) <barbara.Jane.hudson@icloud.com> on Tuesday October 08 2019, @12:12AM (#903901) Journal
              When zuckerberg says it, he's trolling, pointing away from Facebooks massive invasion of privacy of everyone, including non-users, and inability to keep data secure.

              Breaking Facebook up is the only thing that can effect change, because people are (unbelievably) addicted to shitty repetitive posts. We know that half the population is below average intelligence - and they're disproportionately spending more than enough time on Facebook to qualify as addicted. Smart, self-aware people recognize it when it threatens to become a problem, before it turns into full blown addiction - the other half just mindlessly keeps scrolling because they are already addicted and are too dumb to notice.

              --
              SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.
              • (Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Tuesday October 08 2019, @01:15AM (2 children)

                by fustakrakich (6150) on Tuesday October 08 2019, @01:15AM (#903916) Journal

                When zuckerberg says it, he's trolling

                Zuckerberg and Facebook are irrelevant to me. He can troll all he wants. I'm just cherry picking the good shit for what it's worth. We have the right to private conversations on the network. I make that the focus, not Zuckerberg.

                --
                La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
                • (Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Tuesday October 08 2019, @01:49PM (1 child)

                  by barbara hudson (6443) <barbara.Jane.hudson@icloud.com> on Tuesday October 08 2019, @01:49PM (#904061) Journal
                  We don't need anything from Facebook to have private conversations. Same as we don't need anything at all from Facebook or Google. Giving up time wasters like YouTube isn't that hard. Same with stupidity from all the social media platforms.

                  You'll have fewer friends, but they were never really friends to begin with, so no love lost.

                  --
                  SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.
                  • (Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Tuesday October 08 2019, @04:40PM

                    by fustakrakich (6150) on Tuesday October 08 2019, @04:40PM (#904153) Journal

                    Giving up time wasters like YouTube isn't that hard. Same with stupidity from all the social media platforms.

                    That is what I have been saying all along. So what's the beef? Ignore them and move on to something important.

                    --
                    La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
      • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 07 2019, @04:08AM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 07 2019, @04:08AM (#903585)

        Barr and Patel have assholes for bosses;

        Although we would pronounce it as arsehole, I would like to object to you leaving out Peter Dutton. Not only does he have an arsehole as a boss, he is an even bigger arsehole himself.

    • (Score: 2) by takyon on Monday October 07 2019, @01:38AM

      by takyon (881) <takyonNO@SPAMsoylentnews.org> on Monday October 07 2019, @01:38AM (#903543) Journal
  • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 07 2019, @01:22AM (4 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 07 2019, @01:22AM (#903535)

    Barr: 'As a paedophile myself, my inability to think of your children thanks to pervasive government surveillance means that my tiny paedo pud doesn't get hard enough for me to beat off. But with end-to-end-encryption defeated, I can thoroughly think of your children every time I tune into their unencrypted livestream, allowing myself and my paedo buddys, who are thankfully anonymous, due to that fire on Epstein's Island a few years back, to watch your children with complete impunity, and should the urge strike us, to conveniently appropriate them for ourselves as a result of our government thinking about your children so intimately.'

    This post is CC0'd, please use it with impunity, and if you can DeepVoice Barr saying this utilizing the large corpus of vocal tracks available, please do. We need to use our DeepFakes to their full capabilities before they are taken away by the law.

    • (Score: 4, Informative) by barbara hudson on Monday October 07 2019, @01:39AM (3 children)

      by barbara hudson (6443) <barbara.Jane.hudson@icloud.com> on Monday October 07 2019, @01:39AM (#903544) Journal
      We don't need deep fakes. TrumpCo meltdown last week was worse than any deep fake.
      --
      SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.
      • (Score: 5, Interesting) by Pslytely Psycho on Monday October 07 2019, @04:39AM

        by Pslytely Psycho (1218) on Monday October 07 2019, @04:39AM (#903593)

        This is some heavy Authoritarian Bullshit.

        Seriously, ol' Uncle Adolf would of loved the modern world and would of hired Barr in a heartbeat to lead the American Ministerium fur Staatssicherheit.

        Barr's theme song.....I would apologize to the memory of John Lennon, but oddly, I think he may have approved....

        Imagine there's no future,
        It's easy if you try

        Hell right here now,
        Above us only spies,

        Imagine all the people
        Spied on today (ah ah ah)

        Imagine there's no countries
        Only MAGA worldwide,
        Ordered to kill or die for
        only Christians, too

        Imagine all the people
        Living in our database,

        You may say that I'm a Nazi,
        But I'm not the only one
        I hope someday you'll join us
        or we'll arrest you one by one

        Imagine no possessions
        We'll take them all.
        No need, you'll be jailed,
        With the Stasi in control.....

        Imagine all the people
        As enemies of the state.

        You may say that I'm a Nazi
        But I'm not the only one
        I hope someday you'll join us
        and jail brown people worldwide.

        I happily accept the inevitable flamebait mod. For if calling out an Authoritarian is flamebait, I accept it, yea, with both hands.

        --
        Alex Jones lawyer inspires new TV series: CSI Moron Division.
      • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 07 2019, @04:40AM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 07 2019, @04:40AM (#903594)

        I must have missed it. If you meant the ‘whistleblower’ that had the rules changed just before submitting hearsay, then you are one sad individual. To think dems who hated the intelligence agencies for giving Bush an excuse to invade Iraq would now side with them because orange man bad...

        • (Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Monday October 07 2019, @10:35PM

          by barbara hudson (6443) <barbara.Jane.hudson@icloud.com> on Monday October 07 2019, @10:35PM (#903878) Journal
          You obviously missed the news about the second whistleblower, who has firsthand knowledge of Trump's efforts to get the Ukraine and other countries to dig up dirt on Biden. Among other things ...
          --
          SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.
  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by mendax on Monday October 07 2019, @02:07AM (5 children)

    by mendax (2840) on Monday October 07 2019, @02:07AM (#903549)

    Isn't "Think of the children!" always the cry of public safety officials when they want to do something that further infringes upon our civil liberties? Well, in this case they are right because the implementation of strong end-to-end encryption in things like Facebook Messenger are going to make it easier for pedophiles to exchange their vile wares. This is truly evil. However, there is a greater evil and that is governments themselves. China, Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Egypt are a few examples of repressive regimes the citizens of which need to have strong end-to-end encryption. The citizens of the United States also need this security to protect itself from an increasingly dictatorial regime which is attempting to erode our civil liberties.

    --
    It's really quite a simple choice: Life, Death, or Los Angeles.
    • (Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Monday October 07 2019, @02:21AM

      by barbara hudson (6443) <barbara.Jane.hudson@icloud.com> on Monday October 07 2019, @02:21AM (#903551) Journal
      That's the problem. Paedophiles thinking of children.

      They think so much of the children that they are thinking and acting childish themselves.

      --
      SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.
    • (Score: 4, Funny) by takyon on Monday October 07 2019, @02:27AM (3 children)

      by takyon (881) <takyonNO@SPAMsoylentnews.org> on Monday October 07 2019, @02:27AM (#903553) Journal

      This particular call to "Think of the children!" feels different. They have been attacking encryption for years to almost no avail, and now they are just playing the pedo card with no subtlety whatsoever.

      Luckily, we have Zuck to thank for our freedoms.

      --
      [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
      • (Score: 2) by coolgopher on Monday October 07 2019, @02:41AM (1 child)

        by coolgopher (1157) on Monday October 07 2019, @02:41AM (#903557)

        The irony is strong with this one.

        • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Monday October 07 2019, @03:19AM

          by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Monday October 07 2019, @03:19AM (#903567) Journal

          It would be funny, nay, hilarious even if it hasn't been this sad.

          --
          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
      • (Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Monday October 07 2019, @10:55PM

        by barbara hudson (6443) <barbara.Jane.hudson@icloud.com> on Monday October 07 2019, @10:55PM (#903883) Journal
        You really want to think of the children, legislate so that children don't have unsupervised use of the internet. And no social media below a certain age. Also, make parents liable when they fail to supervise their kids because they (the parents) have their noses buried in Facebook.
        --
        SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 07 2019, @03:27AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 07 2019, @03:27AM (#903572)

    Well, are ya, punk?

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 07 2019, @04:20AM (3 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 07 2019, @04:20AM (#903587)

    Why does end-to-end encryption matter tap the datacenter at FBCDN?

    • (Score: 2) by DannyB on Monday October 07 2019, @02:33PM (2 children)

      by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Monday October 07 2019, @02:33PM (#903704) Journal

      Do you understand what encryption is?

      Do you understand what end-to-end means? Or is intended to mean?

      The two ends are Alex and Bob, who want to exchange private messages and photos of privates. They don't want Eve to be able to view their private messages. So Alex and Bob use end-to-end encryption for their privates messages. Now if Alex and Bob have never met each other, and wish to exchange messages of a privates nature, then they might use PKI and choose to place trust in a trusted third party, Trent. For example, Alex and Bob might trust Trent to issue digital certificates that can be used with a private key to sign messages exchanged over a public network.

      Now even if Eve works at the FBCDN, she will be unable to view the private messages of Alex and Bob when she is on break from her work at FB to tear apart the fabric of society.

      --- BEGIN ROT13 ENCRYPTED MESSAGE ---

      Jura cevinpl naq rapelcgvba ner bhgynjrq, bayl bhgynjf jvyy unir cevinpl naq rapelcgvba.

      --- END ROT13 ENCRYPTED MESSAGE ---

      --
      The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 07 2019, @06:12PM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 07 2019, @06:12PM (#903804)

        I don't think YOU understand "end-to-end". You see, our marketers heard this term and decided it was great! We encrypt you end to end to us, and then we encrypt end-to-end to them! Don't worry, you can trust us with your data! We just want to show you ads for stuff you just bought on amazon and plenty of malware-ridden links.

        • (Score: 2) by DannyB on Monday October 07 2019, @08:42PM

          by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Monday October 07 2019, @08:42PM (#903841) Journal

          I'm sure the MITM provider wants to define end-to-end to have that meaning. Naturally the end user wants it to mean from Alex to Bob.

          --
          The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
  • (Score: 5, Interesting) by Runaway1956 on Monday October 07 2019, @04:42AM (13 children)

    by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Monday October 07 2019, @04:42AM (#903595) Journal

    "warrant-proof" cryptography is "extinguishing the ability of law enforcement to obtain evidence essential to detecting and investigating crimes"

    That is, of course, complete and utter BULLSHIT. For all of mankind's history, "law enforcement", by whatever name it went by, was required to work at enforcement. The internet has made their job overly easy. Poor damned fools routinely post their misdeeds to social media, for all to see. Young idiots beat their chests, like some great ape, while publicly bragging about breaking the law - complete with videos, admissable in court.

    Cops have gotten lazy, after a couple decades of idiots basically turning themselves in. They've forgotten how to do actual police work.

    The hell with the cops, and their opinions. All those cops can pry their fat asses out of their desk chairs, they can park their patrol cars, and they can get out in the real world, and do some WORK.

    I've always hated the idea of outsiders "policing" communities in which they don't even live. The internet only adds to that problem. Cops are busting people whom they have never met, never exchanged two words with?

    I'm pretty sure that almost everyone here understands that the goal here, is not NOT to make communities safer. The goal is to accumulate POWER. It has often been observed that even the East German Stasi didn't have as much real power as today's "democratic" governments are exercising.

    In summary - fuck 'em all. My mind belongs to me, and so does my computer, as well as my communications with the outside world. If the guy I'm talking to should report my statements to the police, well, so be it. But, law enforcement has no authority, no moral ground upon which to base 24/7 surveillance of every word I say to everyone in the world.

    • (Score: 2) by takyon on Monday October 07 2019, @05:42AM

      by takyon (881) <takyonNO@SPAMsoylentnews.org> on Monday October 07 2019, @05:42AM (#903602) Journal

      Poor damned fools routinely post their misdeeds to social media, for all to see.

      If Facebook adopts encryption in the correct way across multiple products, then law enforcement could be cut off from a large amount of "normie" communications.

      That probably means stuff like user-to-user direct messages and the chat application(s) (they have more than one, right?), from people who don't even care about privacy whatsoever. Even the "nothing to hide" types would end up using it if it is the default.

      Even if you think Facebook wants to rape everyone's privacy, I don't think they really care about DMs because they can't actually monetize them effectively. They are making money from various ads and sponsored posts. Adding end-to-end encryption in some aspects of Facebook/Whatsapp/Instagram helps a brand that has been hurt by recent privacy scandals, at no real loss to Facebook.

      Law enforcement is going to whine, because who wants their job to become harder? As for their nightmare scenarios, I hope they become true. FBI's nightmare = secure internet.

      --
      [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 07 2019, @09:41AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 07 2019, @09:41AM (#903641)

      "Better to Remain Silent and Be Thought a Fool than to Speak and Remove All Doubt"

      --
      We need to eat the babies! - some conservative at an AOC townhall meeting

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 07 2019, @10:27AM (8 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 07 2019, @10:27AM (#903650)

      We need to eat the babies! - some whack job Trump supporter at an AOC townhall meeting

      There. FTFY.

      • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday October 07 2019, @10:53AM (7 children)

        by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Monday October 07 2019, @10:53AM (#903657) Journal

        Did I trigger another one? Or is this the same butthurt AC?

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 07 2019, @11:10AM

          by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 07 2019, @11:10AM (#903659)

          We need to eat the babies! - some whack job Trump supporter at an AOC townhall meeting

          There. FTFY.

          Dffererent AC. No butthurt. Just interested in precision.i

        • (Score: 2) by DannyB on Monday October 07 2019, @02:15PM

          by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Monday October 07 2019, @02:15PM (#903700) Journal

          "The babies are healthy and nutritious. Rich in protein. Don't give them lollipops." -- some US president

          --- BEGIN ROT13 ENCRYPTED MESSAGE ---

          Jura cevinpl naq rapelcgvba ner bhgynjrq, bayl bhgynjf jvyy unir cevinpl naq rapelcgvba.

          --- END ROT13 ENCRYPTED MESSAGE ---

          --
          The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 07 2019, @02:50PM (4 children)

          by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 07 2019, @02:50PM (#903709)

          You were a "Lifer" weren't you?

          --
          We need to eat the babies! - some Larouchette at an AOC townhall meeting

          • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday October 07 2019, @03:24PM (3 children)

            by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Monday October 07 2019, @03:24PM (#903726) Journal

            Hmmmm - you'll have to spell out what you mean. "Lifer" means different things to different people, after all.

            • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 07 2019, @03:47PM (2 children)

              by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 07 2019, @03:47PM (#903736)

              Career military.

              • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday October 07 2019, @04:21PM (1 child)

                by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Monday October 07 2019, @04:21PM (#903744) Journal

                Yeah, I was "career designated", and for good reasons. I hope you don't want me to list those reasons.

                • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 07 2019, @08:01PM

                  by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 07 2019, @08:01PM (#903835)

                  Go for it.

    • (Score: 2) by DannyB on Monday October 07 2019, @08:44PM

      by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Monday October 07 2019, @08:44PM (#903842) Journal

      "Warrant Proof" -- no such thing.

      Big Brother is merely wanting to serve the warrant upon the wrong party. Some unrelated third party in between the two parties doing the actual communicating.

      --
      The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
    • (Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Monday October 07 2019, @11:01PM

      by barbara hudson (6443) <barbara.Jane.hudson@icloud.com> on Monday October 07 2019, @11:01PM (#903885) Journal
      It's like blanketing the city with cctv cameras. The cop sitting in the station watching the video live is one cop less on the ground able to intervene. Punks know it, which is why they laugh when the officer uses the speaker to tell them they're being watched - they know they have enough time to do shit before anyone shows up, and the video is often crappy enough not to get an ID that will stand up in court.
      --
      SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.
  • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 07 2019, @12:51PM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 07 2019, @12:51PM (#903675)

    noun
    an earlier event or action that is regarded as an example or guide to be considered in subsequent similar circumstances.

    Like when bank robbers got past muzzle loaders, horses, and smoke signals.
    You don't outlaw guns and fast cars, you make the penalty for committing a crime with them higher than if you use the old stuff.

    You do this because it is all that works. Outlawing something that is easy to hide means that the bad guys guys will still use it.
    Limited cryptographic communications should be relatively easy to hide in other general communications.
    How would Mr. Barr propose to enforce this ban for the bad guys?

    • (Score: 2) by DannyB on Monday October 07 2019, @02:24PM

      by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Monday October 07 2019, @02:24PM (#903703) Journal

      It seems to me we went through a stupid War On Privacy in a previous administration which the people elected. Clinton. (no, not Hillary) In that one, the government wanted to mandate a "secure" clipper chip that would clip your privacy. And because all encryption is done in hardware. It would never occur to anyone to do encryption in software, like on a micro controller.

      They even went so far as to pretend cryptographic software is a "munition" so they could pick and choose what laws to apply to it. Just as the emperor pretended to have clothes.

      Everything you wanted to know about cryptography was already openly published in technical academic textbooks. Would they go so far as to stop someone entering or exiting the country armed with a textbook?

      Thankfully we've got a new sane, grown up, competent administration now that would never buy in to such insanity.

      --- BEGIN ROT13 ENCRYPTED MESSAGE ---

      Jura cevinpl naq rapelcgvba ner bhgynjrq, bayl bhgynjf jvyy unir cevinpl naq rapelcgvba.

      --- END ROT13 ENCRYPTED MESSAGE ---

      --
      The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 07 2019, @03:16PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 07 2019, @03:16PM (#903721)

      Too be effective you need to encrypt all your traffic, change keys frequently and use strong keys. Make it expensive for them to crack it.

  • (Score: 2) by jmichaelhudsondotnet on Monday October 07 2019, @01:19PM (1 child)

    by jmichaelhudsondotnet (8122) on Monday October 07 2019, @01:19PM (#903684) Journal

    Its like two shiteating shitforbains shitfaces argue over who is cleanest.

    No messages at FB will ever be private from FB and their zionist overlords, but here they get to grandstand as the great protectors of privacy.

    Barr is in Epsteins cult and is there to allow Trumps corruption, but here grandstands to save the children while thousands are in cages and at the last report thousands are also *completely missing*.

    And these two groups of people are arguing over how letting them read everyones mail will help them protect the children.

    The same argument Barr is making for his kabuki theater applies to physical mail, do you not think child abusers are using physical mail to send images? And have forever, even though there is legal protection for physical mail?

    There is no sane or rational way to approach a situation like this, you can only protect your mind from the dozens of premises they are snaking past you.

    These people want to read the mail of the people investigating them so they can keep the secrets of their truly awful deeds, and catch anyone catching them before it goes viral. They are building a class of people who cannot get caught, who are more above the law than anyone has ever imagined.

    These are mafias taking over and they will do mafia things. Do things that will protect yourself from mafias or you will be food.

    thesesystemsarefailing.net
    decultification.org

    • (Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Tuesday October 08 2019, @01:57PM

      by barbara hudson (6443) <barbara.Jane.hudson@icloud.com> on Tuesday October 08 2019, @01:57PM (#904068) Journal
      An encrypted USB memory stick in a mailbox has more bandwidth than a station wagon full of tape drives (well, not yet, but it's coming).
      --
      SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 10 2019, @07:01PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 10 2019, @07:01PM (#905341)

    fuck you barr! you fat fucking pig. i'm going to purposely make software to enable people to do wtf they want.

    if you have kids, why don't you do your fucking job? other people's kids are not my problem. Fuck your society of authoritarians, cowards and bootlickers.

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