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 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.

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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)

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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?

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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...

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