I wonder how much you can trust the software if its developer must choose a favorable jurisdiction? To my knowledge, developers of Git, PGP, GPG, Bittorrent, Tor, Bitcoin and Bitmessage live where they want because the software is designed to have no centralized links to anyone's private data. So there is no big company to go after.
You realize the developer of PGP and the technical cofounder of Silent Circle are the same person, right? Bittorrent isn't really a great example either... How long do you think The Pirate Bay would last hosted in the US?
Silent Circle raises $30M, moves to Switzerland
11–20 of 46 posts
Re: Silent Circle raises $30M, moves to Switzerland
#12Earlier quoted context omitted.
You realize the developer of PGP and the technical cofounder of Silent Circle are the same person, right? Bittorrent isn't really a great example either... How long do you think The Pirate Bay would last hosted in the US?
I think the point is that silent circle is secured by policy, not by technology. The validity of their security assertions only extend as far as you trust their word.
Re: Silent Circle raises $30M, moves to Switzerland
#13Earlier quoted context omitted.
You realize the developer of PGP and the technical cofounder of Silent Circle are the same person, right? Bittorrent isn't really a great example either... How long do you think The Pirate Bay would last hosted in the US?
I think the point is that silent circle is secured by policy, not by technology. The validity of their security assertions only extend as far as you trust their word.
I'd say the goal can only be to maximize both, because no single factor will ever give you the best solution.
And their strategic positioning certainly also benefits from this move.
Re: Silent Circle raises $30M, moves to Switzerland
#14I wonder how much longer Switzerland can cash in on their national brand for security and privacy. Their largest banks can't even keep their customers' accounts safe from foreign tax investigators. Why would I trust the integrity of my data there?
I think you are confusing substantiated, well supported, warrants/subpoenas/etc and tax collaboration agreements, with arbitrary user requests, gag orders, mass surveillance, etc. The two are at opposite spectrums.
Quoting Farquet 2012:
In a subordinate position before the war, notably with regard to the competition of France and Germany, Swiss bankers took advantage of the new international context to affirm themselves as figures of substance in the financial world at the beginning of the 1920s. Although, for example, the cumulative balance sheets of the major Swiss banks represented only 26% of those of their French counterparts in 1913, they subsequently amounted to 73% in 1929.
The Swiss financial centre was particularly renowned in the sector of cross-border wealth management. In fact, foreign capital flowed en masse towards the Swiss haven in the interwar years. According to a [League of Nations] report, owing to the importance of foreign assets, in 1929, Switzerland possessed by far the highest per capita total of bank deposits in the world. The lack of a reliable balance of payments, as much as the absence of the legal obligation for Swiss banks to publish details regarding their accounts, nevertheless prevent an exact estimate of the total amount of imported capital. Banking balance sheets indicate a general trend, but are inadequate sources.
A committee of experts working on Swiss history during World War II who, exceptionally, had access to the in-house archives of the banks, showed that holdings of securities, generally in off-balance-sheet bank custody accounts, represented, in the two biggest Swiss banks in 1931, more than three times their balance-sheet.
[http://www.ehes.org/EHES_No27.pdf]
End quotation.
Needless to say, the confiscatory tax rates in the U.S. during the late 50s and 60s made going after Swiss accounts attractive. But the Swiss were having none of it.
So are the two situations you mention genuinely at opposite spectrums? Or is Switzerland's special brand the product of a persistently muscular political consensus that, after more than fifty years, may now be flagging? And if the latter is the case, then the OP asks a fair question.
Re: Silent Circle raises $30M, moves to Switzerland
#15Earlier quoted context omitted.
You realize the developer of PGP and the technical cofounder of Silent Circle are the same person, right? Bittorrent isn't really a great example either... How long do you think The Pirate Bay would last hosted in the US?
I think the point is that silent circle is secured by policy, not by technology. The validity of their security assertions only extend as far as you trust their word.
CALEA means you are actually prevented from building/operating some kinds of privacy tech within the US (PSTN voice without wiretaps for sure, and PSTN-interconnected VOIP is a gray area; a mobile-focused VPN would be a gray area too, although not as dark as some.)
Re: Silent Circle raises $30M, moves to Switzerland
#16Re: Silent Circle raises $30M, moves to Switzerland
#17I wonder how much you can trust the software if its developer must choose a favorable jurisdiction? To my knowledge, developers of Git, PGP, GPG, Bittorrent, Tor, Bitcoin and Bitmessage live where they want because the software is designed to have no centralized links to anyone's private data. So there is no big company to go after.
You realize the developer of PGP and the technical cofounder of Silent Circle are the same person, right? Bittorrent isn't really a great example either... How long do you think The Pirate Bay would last hosted in the US?
Besides, as you mention, the apps are open-source anyway.
Re: Silent Circle raises $30M, moves to Switzerland
#18I wonder how much longer Switzerland can cash in on their national brand for security and privacy. Their largest banks can't even keep their customers' accounts safe from foreign tax investigators. Why would I trust the integrity of my data there?
Your knowledge is outdated. The US and (to a lesser extent) the EU forced the Swiss banks to hand over all relevant data. All. Moreover, they have to pay a stiff fine ( http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/05/19/credit-suisse-set-to-... ). Remember Switzerland is a small country and not member of the EU. They have no choice but to conform.
Re: Silent Circle raises $30M, moves to Switzerland
#19Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think the point is that silent circle is secured by policy, not by technology. The validity of their security assertions only extend as far as you trust their word.
> secured by policy, not by technology I'd say the goal can only be to maximize both, because no single factor will ever give you the best solution. And their strategic positioning certainly also benefits from this move.
Re: Silent Circle raises $30M, moves to Switzerland
#20I wonder how much you can trust the software if its developer must choose a favorable jurisdiction? To my knowledge, developers of Git, PGP, GPG, Bittorrent, Tor, Bitcoin and Bitmessage live where they want because the software is designed to have no centralized links to anyone's private data. So there is no big company to go after.
You realize the developer of PGP and the technical cofounder of Silent Circle are the same person, right? Bittorrent isn't really a great example either... How long do you think The Pirate Bay would last hosted in the US?