[nmj]

Johnson also pushed back on the tech industry’s demand for greater encryption, saying that it hinders the government’s ability to detect criminal activity. The trend toward deeper encryption is an issue that “presents real challenges to those in law enforcement and national security,” Johnson said. “We need your help to find the solution.”

Interesting stance to state publicly.

[madaxe_again]

That's the very public stance they're taking in the UK. Cameron went on TV to decry encryption after hebdo, describing it as a tool used only by terrorists, pederasts, and hackers, and he called for an outright ban - until some advisor probably, not for the first time, told him he's a fucking idiot.

[robmcm]

I wish I could upvote that more.

It's interesting that a few of the political parties are adding digital rights to their manifestos. http://www.libdems.org.uk/protecting-your-data-online-with-a...

Key measures in the Liberal Democrat Digital Rights Bill include:

- Prison sentences for companies conducting large-scale data theft and illegally selling on personal data

- Beefed up powers for the Information Commissioner to fine and enforce disciplinary action on government bodies if they breach data protection laws

- Legal rights to compensation for consumers when companies make people sign up online to deliberately misleading and illegible terms & conditions

- Code of Practice for online services who would by law have to correct information about members of the public where it is inaccurate or defamatory

- Enshrining in law the responsibility of government to defend the free press, including the rights of journalists and citizen journalists to express their views freely online

- Prevent government from watering down cyber-security and encryption measures used by British business

[mauricemir]

That will last as long as the no increase in student tuition fees did.

For non UK types the Lib Dems (junior partner in the coalition) tend to try and play both sides of the fence ie pitch progressive ideas to Labour supporters and conservative (traditional 18th century Liberal ideas to tory's)

[tomjen3]

The UK has long been especially stupid regarding limiting freedom. The rip acts are, if memory servers, older than the patriot act.

[xnull2guest]

This has been stated a number of times by officials - it's not considered classified or anything. This is 100% absolutely the policy of Washington and has been since before Clinton.

[anigbrowl]

It's worth considering that if everyone is using super-hard encryption, IDing actual secret agents from hostile countries becomes orders of magnitude more difficult.

[throwaway9324]

What does that even mean? Every encryption system that works is "super-hard". Maybe everyone using SSH is a suspected agent now.

[diyorgasms]

As unreasonable as that sounds, do you think it is that unlikely? Consider that developers and systems administrators make up only a tiny fraction of all computer users. At the same time, we are the ones most likely to use tools like ssh. Very few run-of-the-mill computer users would have a call to do so.

Also consider that developers and systems administrators (and in general the sorts of people who use ssh) are far more likely to have the technical know-how to launch a sophisticated attack.

Putting all that together, it would not surprise me if the use of ssh were used as an identifying marker by the United States government to single individuals out for increased surveillance. Grant you, if this happens I think it is absolute bullshit, but I think there is some paranoid bureaucratic logic that leads to this conclusion.