Law Professor: Tech Companies Are Our Best Hope At Resisting Surveillance

An anonymous reader writes: Fusion has an op-ed where Ryan Calo, Assistant Professor of Law at the University of Washington, argues Google, Apple, and Microsoft pushing back against government surveillance may be our only real hope for privacy. He writes: "Both Google and Yahoo have announced that they are working on end-to-end encryption in email. Facebook established its service on a Tor hidden services site, so that users can access the social network without being monitored by those with access to network traffic. Outside of product design, Twitter, Facebook and Microsoft have sent their formidable legal teams to court to block or narrow requests for user information. Encryption tools have traditionally been unwieldy and difficult to use; massive companies turning their attention to better and simpler design, and use by default, could be a game changer. Privacy will no longer be accessible only to tech-savvy users, and it will mean that those who do use encryption will no longer stick out like sore thumbs, their rare use of hard-to-use tools making them a target."

Comments

Get a bear to guard your honey

[markdavis]

>"Law Professor: Tech Companies Are Our Best Hope At Resisting Surveillance"

Except they (tech companies) are just as guilty for surveillance. Plus, all the data they do gather is still information that the government can obtain legally through warrants and "illegally" through other means (which WILL continue).

The professor is an optimist

[Mostly a lurker]

Big Brother is here to stay. Surveillance tools are being built into the hardware and BIOS. End to end encryption becomes moot when the data is collected at source.

Re:The professor is an optimist

[rmdingler]

It seems the consortium of Google, Apple, and Microsoft would have little incentive to push back against the governments' surveillance, except perhaps where those acts of surveillance hinder the corporations' operations and profits.

There does not, as yet, appear to be enough (or even any) outrage from the average internet user that might inspire the Big 3 to go to the trouble. The social media crusaders are busy wielding the power of the electronic mob for other inferred social injustices.

Realistically, unless the governments begin selling data that is the bread & butter of these tech giants, I just don't see enough incentive for them to initiate any real reforms.

Re:Microsoft, really?

[Z00L00K]

I'm also worried about the later Linux kernels - how much hidden features are there in them?

An independent review of one of the later kernels should be worth considering. However this doesn't really help against a leaking BIOS.

If I want to be clandestine and run a reasonably secure solution with encryption I would look at designing something using an old 8-bit microprocessor.

Hotmail wouldn't attach encrypted zip file

[sasparillascott]

Yesterday I wanted to get a small file from one computer to another, didn't want to use a thumb drive (didn't have cloud storage on one as well) so I just figured I'd Hotmail myself (via its web interface) an e-mail with the attached file zipped and encrypted (it was a tax doc) to another e-mail address of mine...no problem right? So I try to attach the file and Microsoft decided it had to be able to scan and identify (and log?) what I had in that zip file before it would allow it to be attached (since it was encrypted it wouldn't allow it to be attached...tried it several times...the NSA must be pleased)....so much for user's privacy.

With all the information, since Snowden, about Microsoft working hand in glove with the U.S. government I have to laugh a little at them being included here - as it seems a PR stunt on their part.

http://www.theguardian.com/wor...