8 ms·

> It may be wrong, but it proves that technology can't beat politics and policy. It very much can. In a battle between human force and physics, physics win eve

> It may be wrong, but it proves that technology can't beat politics and policy. It very much can. In a battle between human force and physics, physics win every time. If I send an encrypted email to you, you have the choice to not give up the key, even if you'll be in jail. With physical letters, you don't have this option. Technology gives you the ironclad ability to keep a secret, only limited by the fortitude of your character.

louwrentius 2y ago
You clearly haven't felt a 5$ wrench on your body. Giving up your secrets under torture isn't a character flaw, it's what will happen to 99.99% of people under torture. I can't help you if you don't believe that this is true. And I hope you understand that 5$ wrench is a euphemism for what would 'really' happen. All this to say that no, technology does not triumph over politics and policy.
- throwaway28409 2y ago
  Technology very much does. It's the flesh that has a hard time triumphing over force. To counteract this, you can also engineer a system that can resist it through e.g. split secrets on multiple people located in different jurisdictions.
  - louwrentius 2y ago
    If you split a secret over two people, first, we use the 5$ wrench on one of you to identify the other and the rest is easy. If the second person is somewhere else in a different jurisdiction, how are you going to communicate with each other to get the two halves of the secret together to encrypt/decrypt messages? It's an unworkable situation. As I see it, you create a fantasy situation that would not work if you just want to communicate with people in a secure way. No amount of technology or encryption is going to work, especially in the real practical world.
hedora 2y ago
You can always burn a physical letter or delete a file. This bill is akin to making it illegal to destroy your own correspondence.

louwrentius 2y ago

You clearly haven't felt a 5$ wrench on your body. Giving up your secrets under torture isn't a character flaw, it's what will happen to 99.99% of people under torture. I can't help you if you don't believe that this is true. And I hope you understand that 5$ wrench is a euphemism for what would 'really' happen. All this to say that no, technology does not triumph over politics and policy.

throwaway28409 2y ago
Technology very much does. It's the flesh that has a hard time triumphing over force. To counteract this, you can also engineer a system that can resist it through e.g. split secrets on multiple people located in different jurisdictions.
- louwrentius 2y ago
  If you split a secret over two people, first, we use the 5$ wrench on one of you to identify the other and the rest is easy. If the second person is somewhere else in a different jurisdiction, how are you going to communicate with each other to get the two halves of the secret together to encrypt/decrypt messages? It's an unworkable situation. As I see it, you create a fantasy situation that would not work if you just want to communicate with people in a secure way. No amount of technology or encryption is going to work, especially in the real practical world.

hedora 2y ago

You can always burn a physical letter or delete a file. This bill is akin to making it illegal to destroy your own correspondence.