Restoring Trust in Government and the Internet
schneier.com
Restoring Trust in Government and the Internet
1–10 of 122 posts
Re: Restoring Trust in Government and the Internet
#2Why on earth would you want people to trust the government?
That's what got us into this mess.
Re: Restoring Trust in Government and the Internet
#3Personally I reserve trust for people, and I have standards and expectations for non-people. I'm sure General Alexander, DNI Clapper, and Michael Hayden are good people that would make excellent neighbors (if I were so inclined I would likely consider them personal friends) -- but in their official duties they are intractable foes.
I would apply the same term "intractable foe" to every other person acting in their professional responsibility too: everybody has a mortgage to pay and mouths to feed. It's perfectly natural to have a strong sense of self-preservation, and by the same token many cannot have the convenience of a maintaining a clean conscience. Yes it's a cop-out and yes people like that are what's wrong with this country, but it's reality.
Not all of us are willing to sacrifice our lives for an ideological cause.
Re: Restoring Trust in Government and the Internet
#4Why on earth would you want people to trust the government? That's what got us into this mess.
> I tell people that they have no choice but to decide whom they trust and to then trust them as a matter of faith. It's a lousy answer, but until our government starts down the path of regaining our trust, it's the only thing we can do.
I think the point of the article is that even he, a security professional with years of experience, does not know the extent of the government collection -> consequently, the government has a long way to go to restore people's trust as well as their ability to trust.
He brings up a valid point that it's very difficult, if not impossible to know who to trust, you just have to trust them "on a matter of faith" and hope you picked right. The damage to trust isn't only damaging trust in the government.
Re: Restoring Trust in Government and the Internet
#5We should be able to trust the government to do things like run courts, build roads, and deliver clean water.
We should never trust the government when it comes to standing armies, criminal prosecutions, intelligence gathering, and expansion of its own power.
Re: Restoring Trust in Government and the Internet
#6It's interesting to compare the framing of this column with Schneier's commentary on the revelations of NSA surveillance in 2005:
http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2005/12/nsa_and_bushs_...
It's full of "Bush did X", "Bush wanted Y". Now he says the NSA has "gone rogue". Huh.
If Schneier is as unhappy with today's programs as he was with 2005's, then perhaps he should communicate a bit more clearly that today's occupant of the Oval Office could end any of them with a phone call.
Re: Restoring Trust in Government and the Internet
#7A lot of people in tech want to complain about innovation. Why are there so many Farmville apps and nobody seems to be solving important problems?
Well here you are, the biggest and most important problem in modern society today, the fact that our governments are recording most everything that we're doing. And they will use these recordings as they see fit in the future. You couldn't ask for a bigger or more important problem to solve.
Re: Restoring Trust in Government and the Internet
#8It's interesting to compare the framing of this column with Schneier's commentary on the revelations of NSA surveillance in 2005: http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2005/12/nsa_and_bushs_... It's full of "Bush did X", "Bush wanted Y". Now he says the NSA has "gone rogue". Huh. If Schneier is as unhappy with today's programs as he was with 2005's, then perhaps he should communicate a bit more clearly that today's o…
I don't think its as simple as "ending it with a phone call". Billion dollar programs don't ever get killed that easy.
Re: Restoring Trust in Government and the Internet
#9Why on earth would you want people to trust the government? That's what got us into this mess.
You are blaming the victim a bit here. There are bad actors that have done bad things. They are who got us into this mess.
Re: Restoring Trust in Government and the Internet
#10From the article:
"Accountability means that those who break the law, lie to Congress or deceive the American people are held accountable. The NSA has gone rogue, and while it's probably not possible to prosecute people for what they did under the enormous veil of secrecy it currently enjoys, we need to make it clear that this behavior will not be tolerated in the future. Accountability also means voting, which means voters need to know what our leaders are doing in our name."
We should pay attention to the last sentence especially. Look at how your elected representatives voted on, for example, the Amash amendment[1]. If your representative voted against the amendment, let them know that you are not going to vote for them in the next election, and follow through. If they voted for the amendment, send them a letter thanking them for standing up for their citizens' civil rights, and encourage them to continue.
[1] http://americablog.com/2013/07/amash-conyers-anti-nsa-amendm...