[alp1n3_eth]

You'd be surprised how much the government would potentially hurt itself in its own confusion. Not all parts of it are aligned to the same beliefs / mission, and there are certainly parts that believe in the saying "Why are you worried if you have nothing to hide".

[aerostable_slug]

There was a rather interesting criticism of the recent wide-ranging cuts to USAID that basically said it wasn't unlikely that some of that USAID money was being used in clandestine intelligence operations (supporting the tribe of this warlord or that, paying someone off, rewarding allegiances, whatever) that DOGE and perhaps even most at USAID would never, ever be cleared to know about. With the inability to prevent those aid packages from being cut without also blowing their operations, the intelligence community would just have to sit and watch it happen.

I of course have no way of knowing if that's true or not, or if it is what damage may have been done, but it's interesting to consider.

[bsimpson]

I don't claim to be an expert, nor to be able to speak credibly on the interactions of the millions of people in government.

I just remember hearing an anecdote from a friend with ties to Signal that some part of the government wanted to recommend it and another part slapped their hand because they didn't want to encourage people to use technology that law enforcement can't breach.

Even though I just use it for casual conversations with friends, that gave me some extra confidence in using it.