4 ms·

Counterpoint: Just going out on a limb here, but I'm pretty sure James Comey isn't leafing through Hacker News reading our arguments. If he'd like to have a civ

Counterpoint: Just going out on a limb here, but I'm pretty sure James Comey isn't leafing through Hacker News reading our arguments. If he'd like to have a civil discussion, I'd be more than happy to bring the civility. Second, our system is essentially set up to make me powerless. It's actually engineered that way. I do what I can to educate people around me, but when it comes to voting or having any control over who's in office or who officiates our most important government positions, the ball's not just not in our court, it's on another planet. Technology, as you said, will continue to get much more advanced. I reckon at some point, literally every moment of our lives will be perfectly catalogued, from birth to death. This is why what Mr. Comey wants scares me so much, because you can practically hear him salivating in that letter. We have guarantees built into our constitutional freedoms, and one of the most important guarantees is that the government can't compel us to do things. Sure, there are laws to maintain the peace and common order, but you don't have to house or attend to military in your home, you don't have to testify against yourself, you're not compelled by police to follow their wishes until you're under arrest (which they ostensibly can't do without probable cause), and you don't have to aide in an investigation if you're not involved. These are vital because the moment we're legally compelled to aide investigators, all bets are off. We are no longer able to even protect ourselves against undue search and seizure.

FreedomToCreate 11y ago
I agree with you. The motives of those with access to this information is questionable and being forced to do things impedes personal liberty, but the people who wrote the constitution could have never imagined this type of situation. It quite literally requires an in-depth discussion by the people and those we trust in power to develop a solution, but the idea that no backdoor will ever exists is not realistic. Look at history. The encryption the Nazis had created helped them commit terrible acts of war and it was the backdoor the Allies discovered that helped bring justice to them. I'm being devils advocate here because I don't people should view this as "us vs them". Comey may seem like he is salivating to you, but he does raise the notion that at the other end is a corporation, who also has an agenda.
- autoreleasepool 11y ago
  > Look at history. The encryption the Nazis had created helped them commit terrible acts of war and it was the backdoor the Allies discovered that helped bring justice to them. Are you suggesting the Nazi's were the only ones to use encryption during World War II? You forgot to mention at least 9 other nations (including the USA) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II_cryptography https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II_cryptography
  - FreedomToCreate 11y ago
    My point is to show how encryption in the wrong hands can also have terrible consequences. This is a two way street.
    - autoreleasepool 11y ago
      > encryption in the wrong hands can also have terrible consequences. So can literally anything in the wrong hands, though.
      - dmix 11y ago
        Cars, cellphones, fertilizer, kitchen knives, baseball bats, apple seeds, etc. Encryption is only special because of the power dynamic that shifts in the average citizens favour.
sieveoferos 11y ago
I actually wouldn't bet on that. As much as I dislike the FBI based on previous behaviour, I'm happy Comey is running it now, because he seems to have a fair amount of personal integrity. I wouldn't rule it out completely that on a matter this politically charged and visible he does some homework himself, and HN would be one of the first places to start.

FreedomToCreate 11y ago

I agree with you. The motives of those with access to this information is questionable and being forced to do things impedes personal liberty, but the people who wrote the constitution could have never imagined this type of situation. It quite literally requires an in-depth discussion by the people and those we trust in power to develop a solution, but the idea that no backdoor will ever exists is not realistic. Look at history. The encryption the Nazis had created helped them commit terrible acts of war and it was the backdoor the Allies discovered that helped bring justice to them. I'm being devils advocate here because I don't people should view this as "us vs them". Comey may seem like he is salivating to you, but he does raise the notion that at the other end is a corporation, who also has an agenda.

autoreleasepool 11y ago
> Look at history. The encryption the Nazis had created helped them commit terrible acts of war and it was the backdoor the Allies discovered that helped bring justice to them. Are you suggesting the Nazi's were the only ones to use encryption during World War II? You forgot to mention at least 9 other nations (including the USA) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II_cryptography https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II_cryptography
- FreedomToCreate 11y ago
  My point is to show how encryption in the wrong hands can also have terrible consequences. This is a two way street.
  - autoreleasepool 11y ago
    > encryption in the wrong hands can also have terrible consequences. So can literally anything in the wrong hands, though.
    - dmix 11y ago
      Cars, cellphones, fertilizer, kitchen knives, baseball bats, apple seeds, etc. Encryption is only special because of the power dynamic that shifts in the average citizens favour.

sieveoferos 11y ago

I actually wouldn't bet on that. As much as I dislike the FBI based on previous behaviour, I'm happy Comey is running it now, because he seems to have a fair amount of personal integrity. I wouldn't rule it out completely that on a matter this politically charged and visible he does some homework himself, and HN would be one of the first places to start.