Anyone operating under the assumption that their government doesn't already have unfettered, at-will access to all their data is deluding themselves. News like this should come as a surprise to no one, least of all the technically literate crowd here.
Hehe, given that you have been constantly attacking me so far, I think it's the other way around: I think you feel you are somehow superior to me. :)
You also need to learn to quote properly since I did not claim anyone to be "stupid."
Also, it has not been shown that the government has stolen anything. People are upset that the government has an indirect mechanism to access their data. And I am saying that giving third-party your data implies that other entities will get to it if they want it.
The point at the beginning of the press release is that gigantic database doesn't exist. According to the government, they only collect data that has been authorized by a court, which includes large scale metadata collection like call logs or email headers passing through international cable landing sites in the US (collection that stopped in 2011 according to the leaked documents) together with full data with realtime monitoring from certain US-based internet companies for specific users under a surveillance court order.
Access to that data is severely restricted and audited according to this document.
If they didn't anonymize the data, or tried but failed to, then we can hold them to account for that.
But the government didn't create this door or open this door. Whether or not they access this data, it's there to be accessed. Might as well use it for public good, and create a framework for using it safely.
1. You consider the government as a singular entity. It's a group of people. In that circumstance, it's as secure as the lowest denominator of person, which in a government is low.
2. You're find for them retaining your data, then implementing a law, then using it against you?
3. There are plenty of cases where the government have abused data that has been entrusted to them. There is no commercial motivation via competition for them to do a good job. You are effectively contracting out to a monopoly.
4. There is no absolute security either and it should be in your own hands. The moment you contract it out, you're morally responsible for the competence of who you contracted it out to, yet the government isn't an entity you can easily take to court nor seek compensation from.
5. Keys are complicated to distribute. Do you expect this to be 100% effective?
Consider these a little further then check your opinion against the facts on the table.
Not that this should close the argument, but having worked at one of the large data analytics startups that works very closely with government, it's laughable what the government is capable of doing with your data.
I'm not worried one bit, as we had the best technology available. And with the amount of data being generated, it's basically impossible for them to arbitrarily find something unless they're specifically looking for it. Privacy by bad technology and hard problems.
Can you provide a link to your claim or it is just your opinion because there is no proof of that?
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