[aklug] Re: ACS Google Gateway

From: Arthur Corliss <acorliss@nevaeh-linux.org>
Date: Thu Oct 17 2013 - 10:51:59 AKDT

On Thu, 17 Oct 2013, Royce Williams wrote:

> This may be partially due to the fact that the collection and
> correlation is happening in bulk.
>
> Chris, if you're not wearing your tin-foil hat, you're not paying attention.

<snip> I specifically tried to avoid jumping on the Google threat like I
usually do because I think everyone here knows what I think about Google,
social media in general, and smart phones.

That said, I think Royce's response here is excellent, and I agree
emphatically with 99% of it. The only tidbit I'd differ with is this:

> I know that NSA has a legitimate mission. We geeks need to figure out
> how to create technology that will support good political decisions
> and lawmaking, and allow for lawful intercept while at the same time
> protecting privacy and minimizing the chances of abuse.

In a world where information networks are pervasive and compromising privacy
is trivial, there can be no middle ground. Technology must be developed
with no regard for lawful intercept. Pragmatic reality dictates that if
you provide any level of access to privileged communications for *any*
reason that it will be used. It is also inevitable that it will be abused.

This is life, people. It is messy, and it is risky. You will never come up
to a working solution to the quandry of "who watches the watchers". If the
answer is another select group, they will be infiltrated, compromised, and
controlled. If it is all of society, then society will learn what is being
watched and work around it, defeating the point of the watchers. You cannot
solve this conundrum.

In the end, if you truly love liberty and any concept of personal freedom
you have to accept the personal responsibility and assumption of risk.
Technology isn't the problem, humans are the problem. And that, ultimately,
is the real answer. For millennia humans have been able to covertly
infiltrate human networks without the aid of subverted technology. It's not
perfect, it's not always efficient, but it works.

One last point: consider the history of most of the greatest "hacks" of the
last fifty years. How many of them were non-starters without some element
of social engineering? The vast majority. Technology wasn't the difference
maker.

I will accept more risk that I have to personally manage in order to
preserve what's left of my family's liberty.

.. Okay, one more point -- this one's the last, I promise -- before I sign
off: when has the government done *anything* that worked as designed and
didn't include massive waste and fraud? When? The closest you could
possibly come to that, from my perspective, is the military. A collective
of good and true patriots getting the job done... but supported by a
bureacratic and corrupted logistical system. Rife with inflated costs due
to crony capitalism and blatant conflicts of interest. When I served I
never knew I was plunking my ass down on a $600 toilet seat. One would
think that they should have been more comfortable.

If you're going to ask the government to do anything for you, you deserve
what you get. You'll pay a premium for subpar results. Welcome to the real
world. Do you really want to encourage that?!

Governments don't solve problems. People, *communities* of people directly
and personally involved work far better.

         --Arthur Corliss
           Live Free or Die
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Received on Thu Oct 17 10:52:24 2013

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