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your analogy is wrong, it'd be more like "should the cops be able to get keys to your house". In fact , it isn't even that, it's "should the cops be able to se
by rtpg 13y ago
your analogy is wrong, it'd be more like "should the cops be able to get keys to your house".
In fact , it isn't even that, it's "should the cops be able to see who is coming in and out of your house, and searching them when they come in".
How did Lavabit's system work? I mean at one point there's an entry point, and the FBI wanted the info for the metadata, so just checking at the entry point for who's logging in would do it. You're going to have to convince me that it's non-trivial to implement something to scrape the metadata at the door (as in more than a couple hours work at most).
I don't know how to feel about it because $3500 is way too much money for what is asked, if this were a contracting job, and I think that if the police have a warrant for something they are reasonably entitled to what they're looking for. But asking people to do work without compensation.... I feel like there must be a precedent somewhere. At one point things become obstruction. I don't know what we should consider to be reasonable in these situations.
- rpedroso 13y agoRemember that Levinson was not just a private contractor looking for work; taking time to build a whole new wiretapping system into his product wouldn't just cost him development time, but it's an opportunity cost as well, since he could have spent that time otherwise developing his business. As for the triviality of implementing a metadata tap, I don't think the FBI was looking just for Snowden's IP address and browser. IIRC, they wanted metadata from his communications: email titles, recipient email addresses, time of transmission, etc. Lavabit was designed in a way that this was impossible. Levinson would have had to implement a system that flagged particular users and then saved metadata before encryption. In a production, business environment, this isn't just a one-liner. Especially given the security-focused nature of Lavabit, the required development time and effort makes $3500 appropriate for the task.
- rtpg 13y agoAh, I didn't know they wanted that information as well. Does seem like a hefty task. I wonder if there's a precedent for paying people for this sort of work.
- swalkergibson 13y ago"It's just metadata" is an absurd rationalization, nothing more. Here is what that type of information can leak about you, http://www.zeit.de/datenschutz/malte-spitz-data-retention/ http://www.zeit.de/datenschutz/malte-spitz-data-retention/. Also, $3,500 is 2.3333 days at $1,500/day rate. Trivial.