An example of Chrome crypto-arrogance https://plus.google.com/+LaurenWeinstein/posts/31YYGbgrXDj (image at this link)
Following up on my discussions of alarmist crypto-mommyism, or crypto-arrogance if you prefer (see: http://lauren.vortex.com/archive/001107.html) from Google and others, here's an example. A user contacted me this morning in a panic (I receive similar emails almost every day). They needed to access this site, but were frankly terrified to do so by Chrome's alarmist warning page, and the lack of a clear way to bypass the warning even if he had felt it was safe to do so (he didn't assume that "Advanced" led to a bypass -- why should he necessarily assume that? He's not a techie.). Chrome states categorically that the connection is "not private." For all practical purposes, that's a gross exaggeration, or in other words, a lie.* In fact, a connection may be "private" even if it is entirely unencrypted if nobody is "listening in" -- but even within the context of SSL the warning page is alarmist and misleading. In fact, the connection is fully encrypted, the only issue is that the certificate has expired. Now, if Google wanted to say that there's a possibility of the connection not being private, and provide a clear way for a user to get more information and make a decision about visiting the site anyway -- without having to guess as to the procedure -- that's one thing. But a categorical Your connection is not private simply is not factual by any reasonable analysis, and is treating ordinary, non-technical users who need to access sites as if they are children incapable of making decisions for themselves. This is techno-arrogance, and is a key reason these firms are increasingly distrusted by non-technical users and politicians alike. The eventual blowback is likely to be severe, and this is all entirely the result of unforced errors by these firms. --Lauren-- Lauren Weinstein ([email protected]): http://www.vortex.com/lauren Founder: - Network Neutrality Squad: http://www.nnsquad.org - PRIVACY Forum: http://www.vortex.com/privacy-info Co-Founder: People For Internet Responsibility: http://www.pfir.org/pfir-info Member: ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy Lauren's Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com Google+: http://google.com/+LaurenWeinstein Twitter: http://twitter.com/laurenweinstein Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800 / Skype: vortex.com I have consulted to Google, but I am not currently doing so. My opinions expressed here are mine alone. _______________________________________________ pfir mailing list http://lists.pfir.org/mailman/listinfo/pfir
