[liberationtech] Billions of reasons why officials should not trust Zoom

[Doug Schuler]

This is in no way to argue against security and the ability to keep
organized crime  from going where they don't belong — especially for
financial transactions and private information. On the other hand the line
"Our governments and their officials should plan in secret" seems to
strengthen the hand of despotic governments. It seems to imply that these
governments are all acting on our behalf, which may actually be true in
some locations in the world. I believe that government is absolutely
necessary but without transparency things are hopeless. In fact, maybe the
new emphasis on conferencing *could* help open things up.   I'm in a foul
humor because I live in the US and yes, "our" government does try very hard
to "plan in secret."

— Doug



On Thu, Apr 9, 2020 at 9:58 AM Tim McNamara <paperless at timmcnamara.co.nz>
wrote:

> Hi all, keen to receive any feedback on this blog post I'm drafting...
>
> Billions of reasons why officials should not trust Zoom
>
> This year has seen governments take unprecedented action to defeat the
> world's most significant public health threat in over a century. Much of
> that action involves money. Lots of money.
>
> Officials and politicians deciding on economic stimulus packages around
> have a problem: they can't talk face-to-face behind closed doors like
> they're used to. Instead, they're turning to technology. Many of these
> services have unproven security credentials. Using insecure tools will
> allow the worst elements in our societies to benefit from the crisis.
>
> Starting now, there is an increased financial incentive to break into
> video conferencing systems. Billions, perhaps trillions, of dollars of
> subsidy money will be provided by governments around the world. That money
> will be unevenly spread. Many companies will fall. Some will not.
>
> Organised criminals and hostile nation-states have significant
> technological resources. They are well placed to exploit misplaced trust in
> computer systems. Our governments and their officials should plan in
> secret. Guaranteed secrecy while decisions are being made is the best way
> to keep economies alive.
>
> Governments should consider hosting their own video conferencing platform.
> Open-source tools such as Jitsi Meet, BigBlueButton and Apache OpenMeetings
> can all be deployed cost-effectively and securely behind a firewall.
> Perhaps most importantly, they don't require meeting participants to
> install anything onto their computer.
>
> Deploying these open source video conferencing technologies provides
> multiple benefits. The security within the system can be validated. Staff
> managing the service can be vetted. Data can stay local. Most importantly
> though, secrets can stay secret.
>
>
>
> Original https://cloud.nzoss.nz/s/F2r3rDZsEaypKNf
>
>
> *Tim McNamara*
> Vice President, New Zealand Open Source Society
> Author, Rust in Action
> https://tim.mcnamara.nz | @timClicks <http://twitter.com/timClicks>
>
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-- 
Douglas Schuler
douglas at publicsphereproject.org
Twitter: @doug_schuler

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