“David Cameron, the British Prime minister, is one-upping his Western allies when it comes to anti-encryption propaganda,” David Kravets reports for Ars Technica. “Ahead of national elections in May, Cameron said that if re-elected, he would seek to ban encrypted online messaging apps unless the UK government is given backdoors.”
“He said the Paris attacks, including the one last week on satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, underscored the need for greater access,” Kravets reports. “‘The attacks in Paris demonstrated the scale of the threat that we face and the need to have robust powers through our intelligence and security agencies in order to keep our people safe,’ Cameron said.”
MacDailyNews Take: You know, because unencrypted online messaging apps prevented the wholesale slaughter at Charlie Hebdo at the hands of Islamic terrorists. Oh, wait. Well, unencrypted online messaging apps did prevent the Boston Marathon bombings by Islamic terrorists. Uh… Logic is not on David Cameron’s side here.
“Apple began making its latest mobile phones encrypted by default, and Google did the same with the Nexus 6, a move that likely prevents authorities from physically accessing contents directly from these phones’ hardware, even with a warrant,” Kravets reports. “Attorney General Eric Holder and FBI Director James Comey are urging industry to give the US government backdoor access to their encrypted wares. The response, at least publicly, was an overwhelming no. ‘People have a right to privacy,’ Apple Chief Tim Cook told PBS News in September.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Vote out the likes of any fear mongers who espouse Big Brother-esque surveillance doctrine.
Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. – Benjamin Franklin, Historical Review of Pennsylvania, 1759
Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States where men were free. – Ronald Reagan, March 30, 1961
Visit the Apple-backed reformgovernmentsurveillance.com today.
