5 ms·

I'm not bashing the USA in general, I'm sorry if it sounds like it (it's quite hard to write a catchy comment in this vein and get the tone right, perhaps I got

I'm not bashing the USA in general, I'm sorry if it sounds like it (it's quite hard to write a catchy comment in this vein and get the tone right, perhaps I got the balance wrong this time.) However, I am pointing out something that a lot of non-US citizens on HN have been saying lots over the past few weeks; setting up an email service that is outside the US (for the purpose of trying to avoid PRISM surveillance) is nontrivial, and while it would be great if this app were the answer to that, it sadly isn't. I'm all for the US justice system doing what it's supposed to and having the supreme court rule on the constitutionality of PRISM! Then it will no longer be valid to generalise that all US-hosted services are bad news for privacy.

adestefan 13y ago
I'm 99.9% certain that the Supreme Court would rule such programs Constitutional.
- tehwalrus 13y ago
  If true, then there is clearly no real balance of powers in the US; PRISM clearly violates the original spirit of the 4th amendment. If noone is standing up for the constitution anymore, then the legislature + executive have taken control.
  - smalltalk 13y ago
    Saying "clearly" is usually a sign that you're trying to avoid explaining why something is true. Could you explain why PRISM violates the original spirit of the 4th amendment? The 4th amendment is a very narrowly worded provision (when the founders knew how to write broadly worded provisions, e.g., the 1st amendment) and doesn't apply to third party records (when there were third party records during the 18th century, so the founders could have included them in the 4th amendment either explicitly or by broader drafting had they wanted to).
derefr 13y ago
Also keep in mind, most of the people you'll want to send mail to will still be using email providers located in the US. So the messages will just be NSA'ed when they're delivered, instead of when they're sent. On the other hand, if you have specific counterparties and you can get them to switch to the same thing you're using, just use TorMail, or run a VPS somewhere where you both have SSH keys and use it as a dead-drop, or whatever. "The solution must involve SMTP and POP/IMAP" is only relevant when you're communicating with unauthenticated peers... at which point, you'd better not say anything important anyway. ;)

adestefan 13y ago

I'm 99.9% certain that the Supreme Court would rule such programs Constitutional.

tehwalrus 13y ago
If true, then there is clearly no real balance of powers in the US; PRISM clearly violates the original spirit of the 4th amendment. If noone is standing up for the constitution anymore, then the legislature + executive have taken control.
- smalltalk 13y ago
  Saying "clearly" is usually a sign that you're trying to avoid explaining why something is true. Could you explain why PRISM violates the original spirit of the 4th amendment? The 4th amendment is a very narrowly worded provision (when the founders knew how to write broadly worded provisions, e.g., the 1st amendment) and doesn't apply to third party records (when there were third party records during the 18th century, so the founders could have included them in the 4th amendment either explicitly or by broader drafting had they wanted to).

derefr 13y ago

Also keep in mind, most of the people you'll want to send mail to will still be using email providers located in the US. So the messages will just be NSA'ed when they're delivered, instead of when they're sent. On the other hand, if you have specific counterparties and you can get them to switch to the same thing you're using, just use TorMail, or run a VPS somewhere where you both have SSH keys and use it as a dead-drop, or whatever. "The solution must involve SMTP and POP/IMAP" is only relevant when you're communicating with unauthenticated peers... at which point, you'd better not say anything important anyway. ;)