Hey all,
so I am not Eric Schmidt, and I have no insights into what exact detail is causing outrage, but ...
... I had often thought that the legal framework in the US gives the US government more than
enough tools to get all the data they want (which, by definition, should only be data they're legally
entitled to) through "regular" channels -- e.g. make a lawful request to the hosting company,
have it checked by the lawyers, and then get the data. I think many people operated under that
assumption -- e.g. "we are based in the US, and that's cool, because the US will follow certain
procedures to get data that is of interest to national security".
It's therefore not unreasonable to assume that, while people will tap your fiber, these people might
not be the government of the country in which your company is based; that government can make
lawful requests and doesn't have to "steal" (Furious Styles taught me when I was young that if
you're unafraid to ask for something, you won't have to steal - especially if the other side
is legally obligated to give this something to you).
So perhaps the cited outrage is caused by the surprise - "you, Brutus" ?
Another facet to consider: The way to read the disclosures is, briefly put: If data is *ever* decrypted anywhere
outside of the US, the US administration says that this data is fair game to collect (in the
pre-Clapper meaning) without any legal oversight. Such an interpretation is upsetting to
people that believe that there should be such a thing as an international law that is not
just a law of the strongest. A lot of people in Europe are probably of that conviction (which
could be both naivety or cynical rationality), and I wouldn't be surprised if Mr Schmidt was, too.
Anyhow. When our community says "what is all the brouhaha about, people should have known",
we neglect that we have the hardened worldview of a heroin user that has spent his formative
years dealing with, being friends with, and working with other heroin users. While this has given
us unique insight into human nature, I am not sure whether it gives us the right to call everybody
else naive.
Cheers,
Halvar
PS: I am taking a break from caffeine this week, so if you have trouble figuring out what point I was making
it is probably because I haven't quite figured that out either.
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