[liberationtech] Whatsapp, a Trojan horse for seekers of easy privacy?

[Al Billings]

> On Jan 15, 2015, at 2:33 PM, hellekin <hellekin at gnu.org> wrote:
> 
> Signed PGP part
> On 01/15/2015 04:44 PM, Al Billings wrote:
> >
> > So, since you can’t trust any software (so you say) produced in the USA
> >
> *** Not "any software": non-free software, and software running on
> servers subjected to gag orders, as you well know for being a compatriot
> of the late Lavabit service.

?

I’ve never used Lavabit or been associated with it. I’ve met one or two of the folks from it at a security conference, I think. I’ve worked for the same company for 7 1/2 years now, an open source one, in fact. 

> Since when the LiberationTech mailing list discusses non-free software?
> I thought software freedom and access to the source code was considered
> a requirement for considering a system secure.

According to whom? I think open source (I’ll leave aside whether “open source” is “free software”) is ideal but it is not the only thing worth discussing. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be discussing most mobile applications.

> Most people don't understand the extent of the compromise and will
> happily use whatever the experts say is "good enough".  There's a social
> responsibility of technicians towards we, the people, that cannot simply
> be dismissed as lunacy.  I applaud what Moxie has been doing, as it
> provides better-than-nothing for an immediate need of many.  But it's
> patching a sieve with tape: it will slow down the catastrophe but won't
> solve the bigger issue.

And your solution is what?

Al