Key escrow in the UK

Rui Miguel Seabra rms at 1407.org
Thu Jul 28 20:33:27 UTC 2005


On Thu, 2005-07-28 at 19:49 +0200, Jeremiah Foster wrote:
> fellows at the FSFE. Is it permissible to allow key escrow by the 
> authorities?

If one allows key escrow to the authorities, then one might as well not
use encryption at all.

Criminals WILL NOT comply with the key escrow requirements.

The law abiding citizen who wants  to keep his own privacy, his own
secret mambo-jambo that makes his business roar, et cetera... will be at
stake for next to nothing, as far as anti-terrorist wars go.

>  Is this type of encryption too powerful to be in the hands 
> of enemies of the state who take innocent lives?

This is the crux point.

The benefit of robbing people of their privacy helps stop those enemies?

Let's see:
TERRORISTS. How much do you think they care about using encryption
illegally? Don't THEY DIE with their bombs already?

ORGANIZED CRIME. They thrive on hard drugs, prostitution, blackmail,
murder.
Those things will get them arrested for MANY years. Do they even CARE
about a couple more years for not disclosing their private keys?

>  What are the limits on 
> privacy? On public authorities invasion of privacy? How can we address 
> the public need for information with the private need for privacy?

The public need for information is satisfied with journalism, not with a
police state.

What you say is not public need for information.
That's a state who treats every single citizen as a potential terrorist.
Guilty until proved innocent.

This is a perversion of democracy.

Rui

ps: of course, it's just one more item in the recipe of the cake that's
cooking:
		corrupting democracy.

-- 
+ No matter how much you do, you never do enough -- unknown
+ Whatever you do will be insignificant,
| but it is very important that you do it -- Gandhi
+ So let's do it...?

Please AVOID sending me WORD, EXCEL or POWERPOINT attachments.
See http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/no-word-attachments.html
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