Re:EU Draft Council Declaration Against Encryption [pdf]
by romanoderoma on Monday November 09, 2020 @03:38AM
(#25032638)
> Before this there was no way to literally monitor everyone
The DDR did it
Another important factor is that until 20-30 years ago people communicated a lot less
They mostly talked face to face
The challenge today is not easier: to literally monitor everyone is not possible, the signal to noise ratio is too high
They could listen to everyone, it's doubtful it is possible to extract any meaningful information on random communications between random people that are not being monitored because they are already of interest
As someone else said metadata is more important because it allows to create connections between actors from thin air. When you have narrowed the scope, listening becomes a lot more effective.
The DDR did it
Another important factor is that until 20-30 years ago people communicated a lot less
They mostly talked face to face
The challenge today is not easier: to literally monitor everyone is not possible, the signal to noise ratio is too high
They could listen to everyone, it's doubtful it is possible to extract any meaningful information on random communications between random people that are not being monitored because they are already of interest
As someone else said metadata is more important because it allows to create connections between actors from thin air. When you have narrowed the scope, listening becomes a lot more effective.