Hacker News Reader

Comment by ickwabe | Hacker News Reader

What are we to make of these sorts of comments from Obama and Feinstein? It seems like there is strong backing by certain political interests to make it impossible for the average phone user to encrypt their own devices in such a way that the providers cannot access certain data. This dove-tails nicely with what some consider a war on general computing...

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-apple-encryption-obama-idU...

http://thehill.com/policy/cybersecurity/262658-feinstein-vow...

View on HN

The Obama Administration simply will not throw their own (the FBI) under the bus. Fortunately for us the Democrats do not control congress so Obama is unlikely to get his wish here.

The Republicans aren't necessarily better, but they are anti-Obama which helps on this issue.

Not really. The Republicans were for pervasive surveillance and for the national security state for a long time before Obama, and they remain that way now. They may use details of the present controversy to take partisan political shots at the Obama Administration, but, as a party, there's probably more support for government power in this area in the Republican Party than in the Democratic Party.

Not all the Republicans. Cruz has actively opposed the surveillance state:

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/dec/10/ted-cruz-nsa-...

I was talking the parties as parties (and, particular, as parties-in-government rather than parties-in-the-electorate). But id be cautious about drawing conclusions about Cruz: he is a first term Senator who has spent his whole time in office in the Congressional majority with the opposing party in the White House -- members of either party seem more opposed to the surveillance state (and expansive executive powers generally) when they are in the legislative majority and the other party controls the executive.

That's even true, though perhaps less so, without the legislative majority. A lot of Democrats who don't look like solid opponents of surveillance now would if you considered only their relationship cord during the George W. Bush administration.

He's an outlier, if not an extremist (seen from the standpoint of the average Republican politician).

Cruz is 2nd in the polls behind Trump. Obviously quite a few Republicans support him.

Aren't you confusing republican politicians with republican voters here?

Anti-Obama and (for I'd assume a good number) anti-encryption (in the form of pro-FBI)

Might not be a popular opinion but i think the US is always at its best when its divided. Given current political situation, nothing getting passed is preferable to all alternatives.

Nor is Obama's position that of the larger Democrat party.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com