5 ms·
Part of the security of observation comes from the observed not knowing whether or not they are being watched. The Stasi (as well as every other secret police)
by anvandare 8y ago
Part of the security of observation comes from the observed not knowing whether or not they are being watched. The Stasi (as well as every other secret police) never had the manpower to keep eyes on everyone. (Of course, that was before massive computational power, widespread cameras, voluntary personal trackers (cellphones), facial recognition AI, etc.). They had to rely a lot on reputation and fear to get their job done (securing the state). It's in the NSA's interests to make themselves seem spooky and magical.
The encryption algorithms themselves might be unbreakable, but there are so many other stages involved in communication. And all it takes is one weak link in the chain, one tiny mistake or opening, and humans make plenty of those.
No, the magician did not look at you picking your card, but he found a way (based on your inherent inability to be fully attentive to everything) to figure it out anyway.
Then again, maybe they do have magic and it's a massive triple bluff. Or maybe...
- gdubs 8y agoWhat you’re describing is basically a panopticon. [1] 1: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panopticon https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panopticon
- cfadvan 8y agoOf course one serious downside from the POV of the observers will be the inherent imperfections of any system, and the ability of the “inmates” to discover them. The result can be overconfidence and over reliance on the “panopticon” without even being aware of the metaphorical drug deals and stabbings going on in the showers. I mean, this how you get a couple of hobbits up in your shit before you know it.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- skummetmaelk 8y agoIf Stasi had had todays technology, the wall would never have fallen.
- jacquesm 8y agoWell, that I'm not sure of because the wall rested for a pretty big chunk on the iron fist of the Soviet Empire while it lasted but there definitely would have been far fewer successful escapes from Eastern Germany to the West.
- yodon 8y agoThe wall fell because Reagan goaded the former Soviet Union into an arms race they couldn’t risk not joining but couldn’t afford to compete in. Economic collapse is not fun for empires, regardless of the amount of technology.
- jacquesm 8y agoThe Stasi did quite well given the fact that they did not have any of those goodies, I shudder to think what they could have done today.