[liberationtech] Email privacy

[scarp]

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André Rebentisch:
> Am 29.01.2013 04:42, schrieb scarp:
>> While Google fights for privacy, somewhat against lower level
>> law enforcement requiring them to have supporting legal
>> documentation authorizing them to have access to that
>> information.
> What makes you think that they defend/advocate privacy? The
> ongoing debate on this side of the Atlantic: 
> http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/26/technology/eu-privacy-proposal-lays-bare-differences-with-us.html?_r=0
>>

I
> 
should have said that they "appear to", because they only do so when
it's costly to their own commercial interests. This way they also
generate good PR.

>> Hosting your own email in another country outside of the US would
>> be a good idea, because we all know the NSA records everything
>> anyway that goes across US networks. ... All we do seem to know
>> is the NSA has plans to "record the entire Internet".
> Even if they did, only a limited audience would get access. You
> can't use extralegal information in court. Noticed that simplified
> logic of either private/safe or public/unsafe here before. If I
> don't lock my house or use an unsafe mechanism to lock it (like
> 99.99% of the population) that doesn't mean anyone is invited to
> enter and seize my property.
> 

That's not a very good analogy because physical theft or seizure is
noticed immediately. People then either have to do without those items
or replace them which includes the burden of financial loss or time.

People of all ages are able to relate to this kind of loss easily as
it is quite simple, therefore legislation regarding that is unlikely
to change in the future.

However with data, someone can copy it and you might never find out,
unless they use it in a way that directly effects you.

If it is recorded, then you can't really know how or who will look at
it. Once the infrastructure is there, change in legislation is all
that prevents expanded agencies having access in the future.

Over time people's perceptions of privacy will and have changed. This
means they are less outraged by proposed draconian laws, assuming
things continue down the same path as they have so far.

If you look at the last 15 or so years you'll notice people consider
"privacy" a "magic button" on Facebook or a promise not to be bad by
the operators or the government, rather than the data not being
physically available to them.



> New study of the EP: Fighting cyber crime and protecting privacy in
> the cloud: 
> http://www.europarl.europa.eu/committees/en/studiesdownload.html?languageDocument=EN&file=79050
>
>  Heise reports US diplomates slightly over the top against EU data 
> protection (German) 
> http://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/US-Diplomat-warnt-vor-Handelskrieg-wegen-EU-Datenschutzreform-1792765.html
>
>  Best, A
> 
> 
> 

If you put your data on someone else's servers then there is always
the possibility that they can hand it over, either legally or illegally.

Encrypting the data before uploading it to the cloud does make just
"noise" so it does reduce the likelihood of someone wanting to look at
it. Fortunately strong encryption is available to the general
population without special license.

- -- 
scarp
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