Matthew GreenIt is remarkable to think that only in the past 15-20 years have we moved most of our private communications to digital channels with centralized storage & the processing power to perform bulk scanning. Coincidentally that’s nearly as long as encrypted messaging has been around.
Many folks in law enforcement and politics seem genuinely confused about the popularity of end-to-end encrypted messaging, like we all just decided to become anarchists or something. That’s not at all the dynamic we’re seeing here. The entire basis of our communications infrastructure shifted in a direction that’s inimical to privacy; encryption is the obvious solution.
If you had the most cynical possible view of humanity and its governments, you’d expect government agencies to be making a *huge* push to end encryption right now; or at least adorn it with mass-scanning infrastructure. And sure enough, that’s exactly what we’re seeing all around the world. https://www.globalencryption.org/2023/04/statement-on-eu-us-cooperation-against-encryption/
Global Encryption Coalition Steering Committee Statement on EU-US Cooperation on Turning Public Opinion Against Encryption – Global Encryption Coalition
The members of the Global Encryption Coalition’s Steering Committee issued a statement on the EU-US collaboration against encryption.
Anyway one of the things I’m desperate to convey to people is that this is *not* just a continuation of the same fight we’ve been having for decades. The circumstances have entirely changed, in a way that can never change back. The folks leading this charge know that.
Christie Dudley@matthew_d_green it’s more an intersection of existing communication channels and the pandemic response of everything moving online. Following that conjuncture, thinking on how to address problems must change, on both sides. I personally will never forget the US government hacking into attorneys’ offices within the US to spy on a foreign trade delegation. They can do it. They have done it. They will do it, only it’s so much easier now.
Alex Zani@matthew_d_green How are things different this time?
it's B! Cavello 🐝@matthew_d_green I’m lost now. Is this in reference to something in particular?
Joe Ortiz@b_cavello @matthew_d_green The US, UK, and EU are all proposing laws that world basically kill our privacy, security and online freedom of expression all at once. My post and thread which is pinned: https://mastodon.sdf.org/@joeo10/110237902568107887
Joe Ortiz (@[email protected])
So to recap on the privacy, security and online freedom of expression wrecking proposed bills going on in western democracy: United States: #EARNITAct United Kingdom: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/03/tell-uks-house-lords-protect-end-end-encryption-online-safety-bill #OnlineSafetyBill European Union: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/10/eu-lawmakers-must-reject-proposal-scan-private-chats https://www.patrick-breyer.de/en/posts/chat-control/ #ChatControl You know what to do in terms of contacting your elected officials.
@joeo10 @matthew_d_green ahh, gotcha. Yeah, for sure. Thank you!
happyborg@matthew_d_green I'm not sure which things you suggest can't change. Things can't be undone, but we can wrest back control using p2p systems.
@happyborg We can wrest back control by using encryption! Which unfortunately not enough p2p systems have access to.
@matthew_d_green I take encryption as read. We can't wrest back control without usability >= today's apps and the only way I see that happening is with encrypted p2p such as Safe Network.
OldGuySelfHosting@matthew_d_green Almost certainly unstoppable for the most part. Bad guys will of course develop workarounds with little to lose, the rest of us get duct-taped and become more sheep-like. 😥