Governments are trying different approaches to circumvent encryption. While the British can send you to jail if you don’t give up your password, the US administration (restricted by the fifth amendment) is floating an alternative concept: the split key.
The idea is to gain access to smart phones and computers trough a unique “master key” for each unit, that is split in two — where the tech company in question has one part and the government has the other. By a court order the tech company could be ordered to hand over their part of the key to the government.
Keeping track of every new or used smartphone, tablet, laptop an PC and who is using it — pairing it with half a unique key — for sure will create a lot of new jobs in the public sector. And it will become a mess.
One central issue is how not to compromise user security. The Washington Post writes…
But some technologists still see difficulties. The technique requires a complex set of separate boxes or systems to carry the keys, recombine them and destroy the new key once it has been used. “Get any part of that wrong,” said Johns Hopkins University cryptologist Matthew Green, “and all your guarantees go out the window.”
How can we even trust that tech companies will not collaborate with the government behind their customers back? It has happened before. Would you bet on it never happening again? Ever?
And, is it necessary?
Neither Bitkower nor FBI Director James B. Comey, who also has been vocal about the problem, has been able to cite a case in which locked data thwarted a prosecution. But they have offered examples of how the data are crucial to convicting a person.
Should we really treat all citizens as potential criminals or terrorists? Will not the uncertainty about security breaches and fuck ups overshadow possible “benefits”? Do people have any reason to trust government any more than the government trusts them?
Somehow, this is no longer a question of security, law enforcement or even intelligence activities. It has become a matter of principle. The government demands to have access to all citizens all telecommunications and computers.
This is a red line that should never be crossed. Because if we do, it will be irreversible.
WP: As encryption spreads, U.S. grapples with clash between privacy, security »
/ HAX
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