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My Priorities for the Next Four Years

schneier.com

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Re: My Priorities for the Next Four Years

#51

Post by tptacek »

aaron-lebo wrote: post #21

I don't say this in a rude way, I just say it because I don't understand: it baffles me that the election of Donald Trump caused people to notice certain things. If you are worried about government surveillance now, why were you not worried about that same power under a different administration? If you are worried about corporate overreach now, why were you not worried about that power under a different administratio…

Nobody on HN is clueful about every subject that comes up on HN. You're not expected to be able to comment intelligently on every story here.

However, if you have no substantive contribution to make about a thread --- for instance, because it's about the most famous living cryptographer and you no exposure to cryptography or Internet security --- you are expected not to comment at all.

As it stands, you've derailed the whole thread with an objection that to most readers on HN appears completely nonsensical. Whether intended that way or not, this kind of commenting is indistinguishable from trolling.

Everyone else: this is why we have a flag button.

Re: My Priorities for the Next Four Years

#52

Post by 3131s »

AimHere wrote: post #11
tomp wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure I agree with this. Certainly most of these problems (surveilance, assaults on various liberties, etc.) were started/ramped up under W. Bush, but most of them were greately enhanced during Obama, so I have no reason to assume that Hillary might be any better (except better at PR/propaganda, of course).

One reason for thinking that Trump would be worse is precisely because Hillary and Obama's propaganda machine is good at painting them in a better light. Trump doesn't have to pretend to care about human rights, or war crimes or civil liberties - he outright came out in favour of torture, the killing of innocent people, racial profiling, and said a whole bunch of other heinous things during the campaign. At least wit…

Except that the next Abu Ghraib type scandal has already occurred under Obama many times over, but no one cares anymore. How about the CIA shoving hoses into detainee's rectums and pumping food in as part of so-called rectal 'feeding'? It's rape, plain and simple, and it's lead to rectal prolapse and anal fissure in some of the detainees.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2014/dec/09/cia-report-r...

Re: My Priorities for the Next Four Years

#53

Post by suls »

idlewords wrote: post #35
apatters wrote: post #8

Interesting read, but I can't imagine how anyone could convince Google and Facebook to change their business models at this stage unless the market truly revolted and started moving away from their products due to privacy issues. I think change is much more likely to happen through disruption (which perhaps is the other side of his ideas, coming up with business models that are more privacy-friendly). I think securit…

I think employee revolt is a much more promising avenue of attack than market revolt. Many of the people working at Google and Facebook are deeply uneasy about what the data they've collected can be used for. Watching their CEO (or COO) march meekly into Trump tower does not alleviate those anxieties.

I suppose however it is hard to revolt against the hand that feeds you more than 2x market rate. "Everyone has their price" sort of thing ..

Re: My Priorities for the Next Four Years

#54

Post by falcolas »

> we have a defeated majority

I take this to mean HRC supporters. It's also important to realize and recognize the pains being endured by the "minority" (I hate that word when it comes to binary politics and the "minority" is only 1-2% smaller than the "majority") that caused them to support Trump in the first place.

Failing to do so, or treating them as idiots, is only going to exacerbate the problem. Bruce Schneier addresses that a bit, but I think it's even more important, since his message also needs to reach so many of them.

Re: My Priorities for the Next Four Years

#55

Post by [deleted] »

tptacek wrote: post #51
aaron-lebo wrote: post #21

I don't say this in a rude way, I just say it because I don't understand: it baffles me that the election of Donald Trump caused people to notice certain things. If you are worried about government surveillance now, why were you not worried about that same power under a different administration? If you are worried about corporate overreach now, why were you not worried about that power under a different administratio…

Nobody on HN is clueful about every subject that comes up on HN. You're not expected to be able to comment intelligently on every story here. However, if you have no substantive contribution to make about a thread --- for instance, because it's about the most famous living cryptographer and you no exposure to cryptography or Internet security --- you are expected not to comment at all . As it stands, you've derailed…

[deleted]

Re: My Priorities for the Next Four Years

#56

Post by idlewords »

suls wrote: post #53
idlewords wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think employee revolt is a much more promising avenue of attack than market revolt. Many of the people working at Google and Facebook are deeply uneasy about what the data they've collected can be used for. Watching their CEO (or COO) march meekly into Trump tower does not alleviate those anxieties.

I suppose however it is hard to revolt against the hand that feeds you more than 2x market rate. "Everyone has their price" sort of thing ..

That works both ways, though. Everyone also has an ethical limit, and that is a powerful point of leverage, especially in an industry where good engineers are hard to find and quick to find jobs.

Re: My Priorities for the Next Four Years

#57

Post by tptacek »

majewsky wrote: post #38
aaron-lebo wrote: post #37

Edit: I apologize for clearly being ignorant about who Bruce Schneier is. May God have mercy on my soul. I don't know who Bruce Schneier is any more than he knows who I am. I'm under no obligation to read his past statements and works before I comment on a blog post of his. What has changed under Trump is that the power is now concentrated in tiny hands that seem particularly like it to abuse it, unconstrained by soc…

> I'm under no obligation to read his past statements and works before I comment on a blog post of his. Good morning, Mr. Trump. Didn't see you coming in this early.

Instead of counter-trolling, it would be better if you just downvoted, flagged the comment, or mailed hn@ycombinator.com.

Re: My Priorities for the Next Four Years

#58

Post by Jtsummers »

aaron-lebo wrote: post #45
Jtsummers wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Trump has consistently demonstrated his impulsiveness and lack of restraint in communicating his thoughts. To the point that erroneous statements about some companies have sent their stocks downward. He also claimed, without evidence, that a plane crash that had just occurred was by Islamic terrorists. He also called for a boycott of Apple (though his campaign staff still used their devices) because they wouldn't cre…

I'm saying that the Clintons and Trump are a lot closer than people realize: People with knowledge of the call in both camps said it was one of many that Clinton and Trump have had over the years, whether about golf or donations to the Clinton Foundation. But the call in May was considered especially sensitive, coming soon after Hillary Rodham Clinton had declared her own presidential run the month before. https://ww…

You're referencing talks between Mr. Clinton and Mr. Trump, not Mrs. Clinton. And then you try and draw conclusions about how similar Mrs. Clinton's and Mr. Trump's presidencies would have been?

Re: My Priorities for the Next Four Years

#59

Post by Clubber »

aaron-lebo wrote: post #33
privong wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He even says as much: Those are my four areas. Under a Clinton administration, my list would have looked much the same. Trump's election just means the threats will be much greater, and the battles a lot harder to win.

See, I might even be tempted to believe that but he presents it like it's a known thing. Why should we fear a Trump administration more? Why should we fear it so much that it's worth changing our personal focus for the next four years? Doesn't that seem reactionary? If we look at the facts, we know that the Bushes and Clintons are friendly and even share a lot of similar views and the same goes for the Obamas and Cli…

I'm not sure why you are getting so many down votes, it's a legitimate point. We tend to forget that it was Obama who was in his second term when the Snowden revelations hit the papers. It was Obama who approved the drone strikes on US citizens. It was Obama who was in charge during Manning's court martial, conviction and sentencing. I appreciate the complexities of each decision, but it shows he understood and accepted the usefulness of the systems in place.

Hillary is a hawk, I don't recall her speaking out against the NSA or drone strikes. I do recall Feinstein, a senior Democrat Chair in the Senate politicking for surveillance. It seems Trump is less interventionist that what we've seen in the past 30 years from both parties in Congress. Perhaps that in and of itself will lessen the massiveness of our surveillance systems, perhaps not.

If you take a step back, realize that political parties are private entities that try to get their members elected into power, and they spend a lot of money convincing the citizenry they are the right choice. If it were Exxon-Mobile doing the same thing, you would have pause, even if they were saying the right things.

I'm not saying that Trump's administration will not be a complete disaster, but that remains to be seen.

Re: My Priorities for the Next Four Years

#60

Post by idm »

Good post and worth the read. His four priorities are:

1. fight the fights. There will be more government surveillance and more corporate surveillance.

2. prepare for those fights. Much of the next four years will be reactive, but we can prepare somewhat.

3. lay the groundwork for a better future.

4. continue to solve the actual problems. The serious security issues around cybercrime, cyber-espionage, cyberwar, the Internet of Things...

This isn't exactly presented like a political platform or policy agenda, but in fact that is what it is - and I am happy to see it. Schneier has been writing for so long - becoming such the guru - that I'm glad to see him courting audiences beyond the security community.

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