Encryption Is Not a Crime
Encryption Is Not a Crime
Encryption is not a crime, encryption protects all of us. Encryption, and especially end-to-end encryption, is an essential tool to protect everyone online. Attempts to undermine encryption are an attack to our fundamental right to privacy and an attack to our inherent right to security and safety.
Encryption is like a lock, it has keys. Its like saying "All of you should provide a print of all your keys used in your home to the police, else how would we know you are not hiding a body in there?"
Encryption should be no more a crime than locking your house or storing your valuables in a safe.
And backdoored encryption is just as bad as unencrypted, maybe worse, since it lulls you into a false sense of security.
Mathematically worse.
It's kind of integral to the function of enterprise?
In China, basically every enterprise uses a VPN to get uncensored internet when needed.
It’s definitely not integral. You could just control the connection points. Ie, all your software tools on intranet and wired connection only. Any data can be decrypted.
Too bad the paper proclamation that is the constitution means nothing today
Encryption is only a crime if done by a poor or not the government. So long as it’s got the rich people backing it, it’s not even in the same league.
When will you people see that this world doesn’t have universal rules. It has rules for the poor. And those for the rich.
There's a mass without roofs, a prison to fill
A country soul that reads post not bills
A strike, and a line of cops outside of the mill.
There is a right to obey, and the right to kill.
(c) Rage against the Machine
They'll just make it a crime and pretend you were wrong all along. We're not playing by moral rules anymore.
Yet.
I believe in some jurisdictions it is in some circumstances a crime, yes.
It's the Cypherpunk's Manifesto all over again.
Encryption is not a crime *unless you’re doing it to someone else’s data to extort them for bitcoins
Legalize it
I think it’s contextual. It is definitely relevant to bring into a criminal case that criminals made attempts to obstruct gathering of evidence in commission of the crime. It’s no different than shredding or burning paper files. Evidence of criminals taking steps to hide the criminal activity is how you prove that a transgression is willful rather than negligent. That matters in cases like murder.
Encryption is also criminal in some contexts, like encrypted radio broadcasts on frequencies for public use.
It definitely belongs as a talking point in a courtroom, imo.
With respect, this is a short-sighted take. There's literally no legitimate crime that is made worse because a person tried to avoid it being detected. Plot a murder over tor? Not a good look. But in what universe is someone less morally culpable because they just posted on craigslist?
On the other hand, allowing the use of encryption or other privacy methods to affect the criminality or punishment assigned to an action just creates a backdoor to criminalizing privacy itself. Allowing that serves no real purpose in deterring folks from hurting others, but it sure does further the interests of an oppressive or authoritarian regime.