'Give Us Your Passwords'

theatlantic.com

32 pointsnishs2 comments

This is my worst nightmare. Authorities want no one to have any privacy. Imagine a future world where authoritian leaders have surveillance over everyone and everything. I have nothing really secret in my email, nothing illegal. but if the us does it, then the uk or the rest of europe next. then they share the names and passwords back to the us, and then the us has my passwords. We need to change the rules governing border authorities in the us. I know its not an area of normal civil rights, but they operate under the control of the pres and the congress. Why are they okay with unjustified search? Eventually it will start hitting the families of congressmen, and they'll notice, just like a few of them started accepting gay people when their own kids were gay.

> Authorities want no one to have any privacy.

Except for themselves. Thereby putting the lie to many of their own arguments.

I'd like to ask what can even be considered "evidence" or proof of action, when we and our data are all so compromised that anyone could have done anything to it. How to prove it's actually the result of the person you're accusing?

Except, it's not really about transparency. It's about the rubber hose of compliance and coercion. Wherein dirty evidence of unknown provenance, lack of chain of custody, and the like are all merely tools toward political, economic, and social ends -- private ends, of those in control of the hose.

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