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Where Do the Presidential Candidates Stand On Encryption? (windowsitpro.com)

v3rgEz writes: In a divided election year, encryption brings parties together — against technology. That's the sobering finding based on transcripts from the remaining presidential candidates, all of whom came out against cryptography and for government backdoors to varying degrees. It's a testament to the post-Snowden era (and Apple's fight against a court order to backdoor an iPhone) that every candidate has been asked about the issue multiple times, but only one candidate even acknowledged that backdoors cause great security concerns for the public.

8 of 212 comments (clear)

  1. Where do they side? by Dutch+Gun · · Score: 5, Informative

    With the government. Maybe except Bernie, I'd guess. This is a surprise? They are the government.

    (...reads TFA...)

    In fact, only one candidate, Marco Rubio, seemed to allow for any nuance on the issue.

    Holy shit... really?

    Rubio:

    Here's the thing though, if you require by law – if we passed a law that required Apple and these companies to create a backdoor, number one, criminals could figure that out and use it against you. And number two, there's already encrypted software that exists, not only now but in the future created in other countries. We would not be able to stop that.

    If you create a backdoor, there is a very reasonable possibility that a criminal gang could figure out what the backdoor is. That possibility is – if you create a backdoor, you're creating a vulnerability. And what you're not going to chance is the fact that other companies around the world who are not subject to U.S. laws – they could create encryption technology that we'll never be able to get access to.

    Wow... someone has an actual technology adviser worth a damn on his staff.

    --
    Irony: Agile development has too much intertia to be abandoned now.
  2. Re:You all had your chance and fucked it up by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    You mean except for when Rand Paul attached CISPA to a spending bill?

  3. Re:Feel the bern! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    from TFA:

    Bernie Sanders

    From the fourth Democratic debate:

    Sanders: You would all be amazed, or maybe not, about the amount of information private companies and the government has in terms of the Web sites that you access, the products that you buy, where you are this very moment.

    Sanders: And it is very clear to me that public policy has not caught up with the explosion of technology. So yes, we have to work with Silicon Valley to make sure that we do not allow ISIS to transmit information...

    Moderator: But in terms of lone wolves, the threat, how would you do it?

    Sanders: Right. What we have got to do there is, among other things, as I was just saying, have Silicon Valley help us to make sure that information being transmitted through the Internet or in other ways by ISIS is, in fact, discovered. But I do believe we can do that without violating the constitutional and privacy rights of the American people.

  4. Re:Feel the bern! by thestuckmud · · Score: 5, Informative

    You just happen to be a member of the crowd to which Bernie is playing. And, obviously, he is doing a good job of it.

    Don't ever make the mistake of trusting him. Every action he takes that is not subject to public scrutiny will be a betrayal, as is true of every politician (that succeeds).

    Nonsense. Sanders has had a remarkably open and public political career. He has answered questions from the public for an hour every Friday for years on the Thom Hartmann Show and his answers are reassuringly consistent and are backed up by his voting record. Plenty of Republicans in Vermont trust him because he does what he says he will. With regards to the surveillance state, Sander's has been outspoken in his opposition to pervasive data collection, voicing support for Edward Snowden's whistleblowing. Here's and article comparing his stance on NSA spying to that of Secretary Clinton.

    I have observed that Sanders has generally narrowed his message in his campaign rhetoric, and specifically seems to avoids nuances of electronic security and privacy during the debates.

  5. Excuse me: Gary Johnson is running. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    And he is against all back doors.

  6. We know where Clinton stands - with Gore by SuperKendall · · Score: 4, Informative

    There's at least one candidate - Clinton - whose views on encryption have already be backed by action, namely her and Bill's friend Al "Clipper Chip" Gore and support for the Clipper Chip itself.

    Notable that the FBI is trying to make a government mandated backdoor happen again...

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  7. Re:only one? by Kohath · · Score: 4, Informative

    Nevertheless, the statement "only one candidate even acknowledged that backdoors cause great security concerns for the public" is false.

  8. Incomplete sampling by wirefall · · Score: 5, Informative

    "That's the sobering finding based on transcripts from the remaining presidential candidates, all of whom came out against cryptography"

    I call BS! Find a Libertarian candidate who supports this...oh you meant one of the media authorized duopoly? Then, of course; there is no difference between them.

    Gary Johnson 2016!