My personal opinion is that centralizing personal data without oversight is a mistake. Now, layer on top of that a company that has consistantly placed marketing and profit above security and public interest, and a less than optimal security record, I'm a bit scared of the idea.
How many non-techs would be entering their information into Passport if they didn't think that was the only way to access the Internet through XP? On the conservative side, I would say 3 out of 4 (my thought would be less than half, but I will give MS the benefit of the doubt).
I think there is a point you have missed. Not all programmers and companies are bound by US law. By putting a backdoor stranglehold on _US_ Encryption, you lessen overall security for those who _do_ abide by the law, but do nothing to prevent those who could care less about it from obtaining non-backdoored encryption outside of the US.
How does providing a backdoor to our encyption stop these people? We still have the problem of decrypting the same level of security. Now the criminals have a leg up, and law enforcement is no better off for our surrendered security.
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My personal opinion is that centralizing personal data without oversight is a mistake. Now, layer on top of that a company that has consistantly placed marketing and profit above security and public interest, and a less than optimal security record, I'm a bit scared of the idea. How many non-techs would be entering their information into Passport if they didn't think that was the only way to access the Internet through XP? On the conservative side, I would say 3 out of 4 (my thought would be less than half, but I will give MS the benefit of the doubt).
I think there is a point you have missed. Not all programmers and companies are bound by US law. By putting a backdoor stranglehold on _US_ Encryption, you lessen overall security for those who _do_ abide by the law, but do nothing to prevent those who could care less about it from obtaining non-backdoored encryption outside of the US. How does providing a backdoor to our encyption stop these people? We still have the problem of decrypting the same level of security. Now the criminals have a leg up, and law enforcement is no better off for our surrendered security.