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UK government plans publicity blitz against encrypted communications

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Re: UK government plans publicity blitz against encrypted communications

#71

Post by adflux »

samwillis wrote: post #3

I find it amusing that WhatsApp and its e2ee is used as a common target for regulation by the government when their own ministers are using it to organise all sorts of shenanigans; illegal parties during lockdown, “anonymous” briefing of journalists, leaking compromising information about their peers. Not to mention that it always seems like the government is run via WhatsApp (probably need the e2ee for that!). Ultim…

Scumbag politicians here in the Netherlands are actually using Signal to avoid courts obtain their communications through the Dutch equivalent of the FOIA.

Politics here is starting to look more like mob politics... Our prime minister is actually known to do as little on paper as possible - so when the shit hits the fan, he'll always say "oh I didn't know" or "I didn't remember"...

Re: UK government plans publicity blitz against encrypted communications

#72

Post by gruez »

Mystlix wrote: post #52
gruez wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

p2p but route it over tor?

yes, let's route billions of people through Tor when we are already scraping by on bandwidth because exit nodes get shut down left and right. and no, the companies themselves shouldn't set up exit nodes to expand the network because then they would still know everyone's IP address and could give that info to the police. either the Tor network gets reinforced on a completely independent basis or nothing

>yes, let's route billions of people through Tor when we are already scraping by on bandwidth because exit nodes get shut down left and right

You realize that hidden services don't require exit nodes?

Re: UK government plans publicity blitz against encrypted communications

#73

Post by randomhodler84 »

FabHK wrote: post #22

If only some large tech company could come up with a way to deal with CSAM while still allowing for e2e... /s

This sarcasm is unbecoming. Client side filtering absolutely is not a panacea for “safe” end to end encryption. It is a cop in your pocket. Dystopia. The UK can continue making up its own reality if it wishes, strong encryption is the only way forward.

Re: UK government plans publicity blitz against encrypted communications

#74

Post by detaro »

FabHK wrote: post #21
323 wrote: post #7

A more effective approach would be to highlight how the far-right uses encrypted chat apps. That would get the majority of the media and blue-checks supporting you. > Why right-wing extremists’ favorite new platform is so dangerous. Telegram’s lax content moderation and encrypted chats make it a convenient tool for extremists. https://www.vox.com/recode/22238755/telegram-messaging-socia... > In collaboration with ant…

Telegram is not e2ee, by default, IIRC. You have to manually switch to an encrypted chat. Are those group chats typically e2ee?

Telegram doesn't support e2ee for group chats.

Re: UK government plans publicity blitz against encrypted communications

#75

Post by ben_w »

7952 wrote: post #68
ben_w wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They do have this capacity. Given that the existence of this capacity is now public, it is my belief the UK is mainly limited by a combination of selective enforcement, lack of courts and lack of police (weirdly, given their preferred “tough on crime” rhetoric, U.K. courts and police are severely underfunded right now).

It's possible that they like surveillance because it is cheaper than traditional methods.

They might like the cost savings for evidence gathering, but there’s something ridiculous like a half million backlog of court cases in the U.K. right now so the rest of the justice system isn’t in a position to use that evidence.

Re: UK government plans publicity blitz against encrypted communications

#76

Post by stjohnswarts »

Governments hate the idea of not being able to open your mail. Politicians want to be able to control every aspect of your life down to picking up some groceries at the grocery or paying your babysitter. I really hope people don't fall for this garbage. Sure there is a price to be paid for privacy but there is a much larger price to pay for not having it.

Re: UK government plans publicity blitz against encrypted communications

#77

Post by stjohnswarts »

samwillis wrote: post #3

I find it amusing that WhatsApp and its e2ee is used as a common target for regulation by the government when their own ministers are using it to organise all sorts of shenanigans; illegal parties during lockdown, “anonymous” briefing of journalists, leaking compromising information about their peers. Not to mention that it always seems like the government is run via WhatsApp (probably need the e2ee for that!). Ultim…

The government likes having THEIR communications e2e but we peasants should not also have that freedom. They feel they should be able to monitor and control every aspect of our lives because that is the type of people that politics attract. They look at China's power to monitor communications, block the entire nation's internet, and wall off entire cities not with shock but with envy.

Re: UK government plans publicity blitz against encrypted communications

#78

Post by tobbob »

wanda wrote: post #15
tobbob wrote: post #4

End to end encryption will surely make a government's task of protecting the public much harder. It allows paedos, terrorists and the like to communicate freely, and any efforts to track what they're up to must be an absolute nightmare. The problem is, getting rid of encryption is replacing a bad situation with a disastrous situation. If you ban locks so the government can obtain access to the house of a terrorist, i…

> protecting the public Are you serious? This isn't high on their agenda at all. > surely there's tech people whose job is to explain this to politicians You have a very, very optimistic view of the world. If the government needs to get a consultant, they'll just find one who agrees with them.

That's nonsense. It's all very well being ultra cynical, makes you feel high and mighty but what you're saying is absurd.

Re: UK government plans publicity blitz against encrypted communications

#79

Post by stjohnswarts »

foldr wrote: post #65
jevoten wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One surveillance camera for every 11 people in Britain, says CCTV survey - https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/10172298/One-surveill... I'll leave it to you to estimate how many people live per street corner, on average.

For the UK government to be “spying on every street corner”, these cameras would have to be hooked up to some kind of central system. They’re not (and indeed most are privately owned).

Said surveillance is available at a moment's notice and without a warrant. Just because they can't do the show "24" level of surveillance doesn't mean it's not bad, real bad, out there for someone who just want's to live their life relatively unscrutinized. Can't really believe anyone on HN is standing up for 24 hour surveillance with cameras.

Re: UK government plans publicity blitz against encrypted communications

#80

Post by steelstraw »

alkonaut wrote: post #58
mbroncano wrote: post #9

Does anybody know how (or even if) these kind of campaigns are run in the US?

The US let authorities invent and market an encrypted communication tool, tricking criminals into using it (and surely some non criminals). In many ways I much prefer that, to the UK thing…

Which ones are compromised? Or conversely, which ones are not compromised? Signal?
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