Testifying before the US Senate Intelligence Committee, officials from the FBI, CIA, NSA, et al. warned Americans against using phones made by Chinese companies Huawei and ZTE. Why? Because, Christopher Wray (Comey’s successor at the FBI) explains, the Chinese government might equip, or find and exploit weaknesses in, such phones to “maliciously modify or steal information” and “conduct undetected espionage.”
Tag: privacy
For Preventing Abuse, Public Schools Are Not a Good Model for Homeschooling
Horrific crimes and violent acts tug at our collective heartstrings. When other humans are harmed, we rightfully feel empathy and anger. We should use these moments as opportunities for reflection and conversation, but we should be careful to not make policy based on emotion. Some are using the egregious case of alleged child abuse by a California family charged with starving and torturing their children in a so-called private school to call for greater regulation of all homeschooling families.
Words Poorly Used #127 — Secrecy, Security, Privacy
These three words, secrecy, security, and privacy, are thrown about, often with an intent to imply relationship among them. But none of them actually imply the others or any combination of the others. the critical element for each is whether they are legitimate provinces of the state, and in the hands of the state, are they appropriately administered. Let’s look at each as a standalone entity.
Conditions for Justified Coercion
Below are some conditions or situations when coercion may be justified. They are designed to be concise yet comprehensive. I have defined terms as clearly as I can, but they may still be open to interpretation and judgement. Think about them and see if you can improve upon them or develop your own!
Bitcoin Will Stop the Motor of the World
Revolutions do not typically happen overnight, especially one so bold as to question the necessity of a motor as powerful as centralized banking coupled with seemingly limitless government power.
There’s a Due Process Problem with Homeschool Regulations
The biggest problem with the often-cavalier way citizens and lawmakers suggest regulating homeschoolers – who receive no public money but still pay local property taxes to fund schools – is that it is an invasion of privacy and a violation of due process.
Words Poorly Used #118 — Probable Cause
After some deliberation, it seems that in general the 4th amendment is more a blueprint in large for violating a person’s castle and or privacy, and that in particular it is a monument to the law and order crowd’s endless impulse to enforce pre-crime.
Encryption: Christopher Wray’s “Huge, Huge Problem” is an Age-Old Inconvenience
Theoretically unbreakable encryption has been around since at least as early as 1882 when Frank Miller invented and described the “one-time pad.” A pen, a piece of paper, and a way to generate random numbers is all anyone needs to frustrate Christopher Wray’s desire to read our mail.
Microsoft Corp. v. United States: Jeff Sessions Wants Open Borders, But Only for Police
In 2013, Microsoft refused to turn information from a customer’s email account over to law enforcement pursuant to a warrant in a narcotics investigation. The information, Microsoft noted, was stored on a server in Ireland. Ireland, as you may have learned in elementary school, is neither one of the fifty states nor a US territory. It’s a sovereign state with its own laws. US search warrants carry no weight there.
Privacy Is A Funny Thing
The right to privacy refers to any situation in which you have a reasonable expectation that your thoughts and feelings are being shared in confidence. The reality of privacy is that our right to privacy isn’t always honored.