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In my personal opinion, that's just something that will have to happen before engineers start taking the subject seriously. If a year or two of NSA interns hav
by walls 13y ago
In my personal opinion, that's just something that will have to happen before engineers start taking the subject seriously.
If a year or two of NSA interns have to learn the hard way that they'll never find employment anywhere else afterwords, too bad. You can bet your ass that, by the third year, nobody will be accepting those positions without fully intending on being there forever, and committing to the degradation of privacy.
- yeukhon 13y agoYes, I do warn my lower classmen not to get those jobs. But schools can mislead them and the "internship" experience can mislead them. It doesn't matter whether how we try to prevent them from doing it, the issue is how we the cryto community, how we Americans, and how we the society perceives and accepts NSA employees (ex/current). It is this "discrimination" I am questioning. I don't think I can trust someone worked at NSA for many years either. I will give you that. But how should companies deal with these applicants? > If a year or two of NSA interns have to learn the hard way that they'll never find employment anywhere else afterwords, too bad. And that's exactly why my question is important to raise: how do we choose not to "discriminate" them. EDIT Downvoting on a moral issue? Really?
- walls 13y agoAgain, just my personal opinion, but I believe they should be seen as 'tainted' and a potential threat to any employer, forever. If we started ostracizing only long-term hires, the NSA would just have more motivation to 'turn' their short-term hires. I feel that without a sort of "zero tolerance" policy towards NSA employment, there will always be a way for them to get around imposed restrictions.
- quim06 13y ago"We Americans"... Next time you feel compelled to use this kind of political spiel on the internet, remember that YOU Americans only count for around 4.5% of the world's population.
- girvo 13y agoAs far as I'm concerned those kids made a choice. If they choose to help the NSA in any capacity, well then yeah I'd consider them tainted. They require a certain kind of person, and I don't think they have the best interests of worldwide privacy at heart. FYI, you shouldn't have been downvoted, your argument has merit even if I disagree with it. Upvoted.
- jlgaddis 13y agoOff-topic/not related: out of curiosity, how are you aware that you're being downvoted? I didn't downvote you, FWIW, although I apparently have the ability to. Perhaps being able to see your {up,down}votes is one of HN's "incremental features" and I simply haven't been around long enough? Or maybe you track/watch your karma points? I can see mine, of course, but I don't think I've ever really paid attention to it.
- jra_samba 13y agoThis is the key. Shunning. NSA/GCHQ employees need to learn working for these agencies is a one-way street. No one on the outside will ever trust them or employ them again.
- yeukhon 13y agoAnd we still need to resolve how to help people getting out of NSA and somehow get a job match their skill and experience. It is hard and it is hard for two reasons: 1) people don't trust them and 2) it is hard to justify their work outside NSA. And I am interested in #1 how companies, particularly, big companies handle these issues, and do you as co-worker evaluate your new co-worker.
- sseveran 13y agoThis would need to extend to the contractors at Booz Allen, SAIC, CSC, etc...
- aragot 13y agoIt is similar to any post-war country chasing the people who collaborated. In a sense, justice has to be made; in the other, the war courts usually assign surprising low penalties. The reason is, once the war is won, there's only revenge in penalizing losers. ... but the "war" of privacy is yet to be won. So chasing individuals for collaboration may be too early.