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Keeping Your Data Private From the NSA (And Everyone Else)

Posted by Unknown on from the secret-nsa-quantum-computer-knows-all dept.

Nerval's Lobster writes "If those newspaper reports are accurate, the NSA's surveillance programs are enormous and sophisticated, and rely on the latest in analytics software. In the face of that, is there any way to keep your communications truly private? Or should you resign yourself to saying or typing, 'Hi, NSA!' every time you make a phone call or send an email? Fortunately there are ways to gain a measure of security: HTTPS, Tor, SCP, SFTP, and the vendors who build software on top of those protocols. But those host-proof solutions offer security in exchange for some measure of inconvenience. If you lose your access credentials, you're likely toast: few highly secure services include a 'Forgot Your Password?' link, which can be easily engineered to reset a password and username without the account owner's knowledge. And while 'big' providers like Google provide some degree of encryption, they may give up user data in response to a court order. Also, all the privacy software in the world also can't prevent the NSA (or other entities) from capturing metadata and other information. What do you think is the best way to keep your data locked down? Or do you think it's all a lost cause?"

2 of 622 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Can't have it all. by egcagrac0 · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    That's silly. Privacy is a constitutional right -- so important that it's part of the original Bill of Rights (first 10 amendments)

    I must have missed it.... where is privacy protected by the constitution?

    (Hint: it's not in the fourth amendment.)

  2. Re:Can't have it all. by poetmatt · · Score: 1, Flamebait

    I guarantee you that merely putting cameras inside your home would easily subject you to being found illegal by many laws in any state in the entire US.

    I don't think you understand even the smallest shred of why this shit matters. There is nothing you can do that would stop other people from wanting to look at you, because merely posting this online they could probably extrapolate into "terrorist threat/subversive of the US/rebellious against the US" and you'd be gone.

    your statement is so full of shit it's laughable.