Ask HN: What are your arguments in favor of end-to-end encryption?

Re:Ask HN: What are your arguments in favor of end-to-end en... by diminoten on Friday October 04, 2019 @12:07PM (#21159015)

Cars have a long history of killing people, so do planes, so does AIDS, so does... everything, really. So we make changes, we improve, and now AIDs related deaths have dropped off significantly, we haven't had a fatal plane crash in the US in 10 years, and car related deaths in the US have decreased steadily since the 1960s.

Yes, governments have a history of being unsafe to their citizens, but it's not anything like what it once was, and it's getting steadily better, despite what the MSM wants you to think.

Now I'm not saying it's okay they backdoor all encryption, I just don't think the argument "Government evil" is going to hold water for the average person, nor should it.

A much better argument should come from the, "we prefer guilty people go free than innocent people get convicted, let's apply that policy to privacy" school of thought.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Ask HN: What are your arguments in favor of end-to-end en... by andrei_says_ on Friday October 04, 2019 @12:42PM (#21159402)

Comparing governments as bad actors (malevolent groups of people trying to retain and increase their power yielding already disproportionate amounts of power) to cars and diseases (inanimate objects or, well, diseases) is not a fair argument.

On one hand, organized crime, observable in most countries where governments are present, on the other hand everyday objects and a disease.

Doesn’t look like an argument made in good faith.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Ask HN: What are your arguments in favor of end-to-end en... by diminoten on Friday October 04, 2019 @01:13PM (#21159736)

You say it's not a good argument but you don't say why. I think it's appropriate, insofar as it's the very government that's made these things safer, improved the lives of their citizens by getting involved.

The exact same mechanisms are available to fight both car deaths and malicious actors. Why do we trust the government to do one but not the other?

(Keep in mind I'm NOT in favor of backdooring crypto, I just don't think "but the government is corrupt" is a good argument against it)

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Ask HN: What are your arguments in favor of end-to-end en... by andrei_says_ on Friday October 04, 2019 @03:31PM (#21161083)

Governments, including current one(s) do have a history of targeting activists and whistleblowers using legal and surveillance tools intended for targeting terrorism.

This does not benefit the population, it only benefits organized crime organizations entrenched in government.

How do cars benefit organized crime as disproportionally as abovementioned tools?

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Ask HN: What are your arguments in favor of end-to-end en... by Darth_Hobo on Saturday October 05, 2019 @04:12PM (#21167654)

At this point I would actually prefer a criminal street gang to physically protect me. Because they don't care about my private life as long as I pay up. Government does care about my private life, even if I pay up.

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Re:Ask HN: What are your arguments in favor of end-to-end en... by UncleEntity on Friday October 04, 2019 @02:34PM (#21160522)

Government today might not be too bad but that has no bearing on government tomorrow.

Anne Frank's father had nothing to hide when he filled in the official forms asking his family religion and we all know how that turned out...

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Ask HN: What are your arguments in favor of end-to-end en... by AdrianB1 on Friday October 04, 2019 @03:54PM (#21161304)

Cars don't kill people and spoons don't make them fat; car drivers kill people.

[ Parent | on HN ]