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UK Police Chief: Some Tech Companies Are 'Friendly To Terrorists'

An anonymous reader points out comments from Mark Rowley, the UK's national police lead for counter-terrorism, who thinks tech companies aren't doing enough to prevent terrorists from using their services. He said, "[The acceleration of technology] can be set up in a way which is friendly to terrorists and helps them ... and creates challenges for law enforcement and intelligence agencies. Or it can be set up in a way which doesn't do that." Rowley wouldn't name which companies in particular he's talking about, but he added, "Snowden has created an environment where some technology companies are less comfortable working with law reinforcement and intelligence agencies and the bad guys are better informed. We all love the benefit of the internet and all the rest of it, but we need their support in making sure that they're doing everything possible to stop their technology being exploited by terrorists. I'm saying that needs to be front and center of their thinking and for some it is and some it isn't."

12 of 230 comments (clear)

  1. Talk about blaming the messenger by Chatsubo · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Does one really have to state the obvious? Snowden didn't "create" anything.

    Companies don't find those entities untrustworthy because Snowden reported it, they find them untrustworthy because it turns out they are untrustworthy. If Snowden didn't report it they would've found it out eventually some other way.

    --
    > no, yes, maybe (tagging beta)
    1. Re:Talk about blaming the messenger by khasim · · Score: 5, Insightful

      He's part of the "system". Therefore, his view is that anyone who isn't directly supporting the "system" is opposing it. Which means you're opposing him and the "good" work that he is doing. You are friendly to the "terrorists".

      "Terrorists" in this case being defined as anyone Mark Rowley does not agree with.

      Personally, I think that there are far more corrupt cops and corrupt politicians and so on who would abuse their authority than there are terrorists who can attack us.

  2. F Mark Rowley by putaro · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I regard the threat to my privacy and civil liberty by criminals like Mark Rowley as much more significant than that posed by terrorists. Snowden didn't make companies add more encryption. Overreach by government agencies caused it. They're just trying to shoot the messenger but they created the problem by circumventing or ignoring the law.

    1. Re:F Mark Rowley by pla · · Score: 4, Insightful

      They're just trying to shoot the messenger but they created the problem by circumventing or ignoring the law.

      The real problem here - And finish reading this post before you start shooting at me - Rowley has it absolutely correct. Tech companies do behave in ways friendly to terrorists.

      Except, he has committed a fundamental attribution error by assuming they do in support of actual terrorism. Tech companies don't support terrorism - They support fairness, they support security, they support usability, for everyone. Unfortunately, "safe" and "secure" includes "from government tampering", and "fair" and "everyone" includes terrorists.

      If the encryption software I use doesn't block all attempts to intercept my data, whether by flaw or by design, I will use something that does. Simple as that. Tech companies behave in ways friendly to terrorists because tech companies can't readily discriminate between the actions of crackers and governments, between privacy advocates and terrorists, between a legal court-ordered wiretap and an NSA hijacking - Nor should they.

  3. Re:Benjamin Franklin got it right by NicBenjamin · · Score: 5, Insightful

    He never actually said that. The "liberty" was "essential liberties," and the security was "a little, temporary safety." Which completely changes the meaning of the sentence from don't-think-authority-BAD to a desire for critical thinking and balance between the needs of everyone as a whole (ie: the government in a democracy) and the needs of the individual.

    Which makes sense if you look at what he actually did. Prior to the US Constitution there was no actual Federal government, there was a late-18th-century version of the UN Security Council called Congress. In theory it was supreme in many matters, but without it's own bureaucracy/Army/etc. it had trouble doing things like convincing Connecticut to give up it's claim to Chicago. This anti-freedom monster everyone worries about (the Federal government) was actually created by him at the Constitutional Convention. The Articles of Confederation government was unable to provide any "safety" from being reconquered by the Brits, largely because it couldn't directly affect anyone's individual liberty. It could not even tax you directly, it had to convince your state to do that, and then turn over the money to Congress.

  4. Not just the tech industry either by Floyd-ATC · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Car manufacturers aren't doing enough to prevent terrorists from driving cars. Oil companies aren't doing enough to prevent terrorists from using diesel and petrol. Food companies aren't doing enough to prevent terrorists from eating food. Pencil manufacturers aren't doing enough to prevent terrorists from writing. Shoe manufacturers aren't doing enough to prevent terrorists from walking. I could go on but I won't. He probably will. Snowden has made a few more people aware of the fact that many people who work in law enforcement agencies and intelligence services think they have a right to ignore the law. Particularly the law in other countries.

    --
    Time flies when you don't know what you're doing
  5. Re:Define 'Terrorists' by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    You forgot to add that if Hamas was playing by the US of A rules they would be called freedom fighters for peace justice and democracy... not terrorists...

  6. Re:Define 'Terrorists' by dotancohen · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Hamas launched their rockets into Israel, Israel retaliates with full scale massive military campaign --- Gaza Strip almost flattened as a result. While Hamas are terrorists (nobody can deny it) the Israelis are also not that 'non-terrorists' either

    How did the US retaliate when Al Qaeda attacked them? How many Afghans were killed in that campaign, and how long did it last?

    How did the US retaliate when Iraq attacked them? How many Iraqis were killed in that campaign, and how long did it last? For that matter, exactly _when_ did Iraq attack the US?

    --
    It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong.
  7. Re:Define 'Terrorists' by stealth_finger · · Score: 4, Insightful

    You forgot to add that if Hamas was playing by the US of A rules they would be called freedom fighters for peace justice and democracy... not terrorists...

    Just like the brave, glorious Afghan mujahedeen that where fighting for their freedom against the vile Russian invaders. Everyone knows the rest.

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  8. Re:Define 'Terrorists' by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    You're deliberately distorting and misrepresenting the text of 1441. 1441 required that Iraq comply with weapons inspections. Those inspections took place and no WMDs were found, up to the point that the US decided to say "fuck it" to the UN and go to war. The US was the one who championed going to war with Iraq, not the UN, and the UN rejected the use of force against Iraq.

  9. Re:Define 'Terrorists' by Mr.+Slippery · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Israel didn't start it, Hamas did.

    No. The UK started it with the Balfour Declaration, then the Zionist Organization followed by with an invasion. Arabs started to resist the invasion, and the cycle began, with many sins since then by many players. But the origin was British colonialism and Jewish millenarianism. And the recent and ongoing brutality has been primarily of Israeli origin.

    Who are the terrorists? The ones launching cowardly, hidden attacks, or the ones defending themselves?

    There is nothing "cowardly" about hiding. That's how you win a battle. It's why we invented camouflage. That's the same charge the British leveled against American colonial fighters, that they wouldn't stand out in the open wearing bright colors and be shot like Real Men.

    And the Palestinians have been on the defensive since 1917, that's the historical fact.

    --
    Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | my blog
    You cannot wash away blood with blood
  10. Re:Define 'Terrorists' by kilfarsnar · · Score: 4, Insightful

    While Hamas are terrorists (nobody can deny it) the Israelis are also not that 'non-terrorists' either

    No, they're not terrorists. Retaliating against murderous ideologues, and removing their ability to kill, is not terrorism. Maybe you'll learn that someday.

    You understand that that's the way Hamas views Israel, right? I'm just saying, you're going to find that many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view.

    --
    "What the American public doesn't know is what makes them the American public." -Ray Zalinsky (Tommy Boy)