tripu @tripu@qoto.org

@mr @aral

I know that Maths can't be contained, that algorithms are just numbers, that the back door intended for the goodies could fall in the hands of the baddies… as I said, I'm an ally.

That being said: of course there's middle ground with regards to #encryption! — very few issues in life are either black or white. Let's not oversimplify or advocate for the extreme; at least not without examining or trying alternatives.

#E2E isn't all that different from other great powers that societies (try to) control: firearms, natural resources, the press, drugs, etc. In those cases, we seek balances between #freedom and #security. Why not here?

For instance: we trust seven human beings with the private keys to DNSSEC worldwide (even if those keys could fall in the wrong hands); we trust judges in democratic countries to suspend the rights of individuals when it's necessary to prevent harm to others (even at the risk of them abusing that capacity sometimes); we trust the police to use weapons that we ban for ourselves (instead of throwing our hands up in the air, saying “it's futile! criminals will find ways to get those weapons anyway!”, and making any weapon freely available to anyone)… Note the parallelisms with the three arguments most commonly used in favour of unrestricted E2E.

We could restrict strong encryption to people without criminal records (child abusers, terrorists, etc). We could demand that any system or app implementing strong encryption be “licensed” by democratic states (quickly, for free, without purpose limitations) so that in the event of a warrant it'll be easier to inventory exhibits and to spot illegal uses of encryption where the most incriminating evidence might be. In many day-to-day use cases, we could advocate for strong encryption (non-E2E) where the master key is the cryptographic product of three or four secret keys: one held by a representative of the company offering the service; one held by the corresponding Supreme Court, MoJ, or analogous democratic institution; one provided by some special department of the UNHRC. We could legally bundle “free E2E encryption for all” together much tougher laws that would harshly punish any party involved, or any witness to the communication/data, if they don't report “encrypted” crimes, or if they don't disclose any private keys in their possession in the course of investigations.

I'm not saying these ideas are particularly wise, or even feasible. I am no expert. I'm just saying: let's try to empower citizens and protect privacy without gifting all malicious actors in the world with amazing sacrosanct invisibility blankets.

@aral
I'm much more pro- than against-#encryption, so count me on your side. Still, that kind of black-or-white approach isn't helpful here (as with many other issues).
Why alienate fellow defenders of #E2E who might have a more nuanced view? Can't we admit that there will be instances of people, uses, circumstances, and tools, where we might want a well-argumented, good-intentioned warrant to be able to penetrate into secret data or communications — for the common good?
I don't have a solution at hand that could balance the best of both worlds. But to admit that it'll be hard and that in the pursuit of legit concerns sometimes individual rights will be sadly infringed upon (as IRL, all the time) is not the same as not even trying and resorting to the extreme.

This.

I had been very suspicious of #JohnMcAfee's flamboyant bullish assertions about #crypto in the short term. Now it all makes sense.
https://www.whoismcafee.com/u-s-securities-and-exchange-commission-sec-sues-mcafee-for-pumping-initial-coin-offerings-icos/

@QOTO @freemo Thank you! 🙏

❤️ 🇬🇧 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Owz4-qjDyoU
#London #lockdown #Covid #videography

“It would be wrong for us to ignore the unearned #privilege that exists in #Nodejs. Much of the project leadership is #white, and a majority are men. We are and have been systematically complicit in perpetuating the issues that led us to where we are.”
https://nodejs.org/en/black-lives-matter/

#BLM #MoralGrandstanding #CollectiveGuilt #software #JS
https://www.econlib.org/the-illogic-of-collective-guilt/

«Desde el asalto a la división de poderes hasta la connivencia con la violencia, desde el ataque planificado y sistemático a la unidad territorial hasta la imposición de una ideología, convertida en moral totalitaria y acompañada de una censura propia de la Inquisición. Cada atropello a las libertades protagonizado por este Gobierno, incluida la libertad de conciencia, tiene su correlato en un episodio del pasado comunista que despertó la respuesta fascista y llevó a los españoles al desastre.»

https://www.elespanol.com/opinion/tribunas/20200930/gobierno-recuerdo-odio/524567541_12.html

“I recognise that I can use part of my income to do a significant amount of good. Since I can live well enough on a smaller income, I pledge that for the rest of my life or until the day I retire, I shall give at least ten percent of what I earn to whichever organisations can most effectively use it to improve the lives of others, now and in the years to come. I make this pledge freely, openly, and sincerely.”
#EffectiveAltruism #EA #GivingWhatWeCan #GWWC #pledge
https://www.givingwhatwecan.org/pledge/

#EffectiveAltruism #EA #GivingWhatWeCan #GWWC #pledge #SamHarris #WakingUp
👏 ❤️
https://twitter.com/wakingup/status/1309556694675001344

Yo siempre encantado, en casos como este, de «generar más interacciones» y «hacer ganar visibilidad».
Contexto: https://social.politicaconciencia.org/@DrBenway/104943003505648487