Now, it is specifically this hierarchy, where the most resourced governments and corporations have m

Now, it is specifically this hierarchy, where the most resourced governments and corporations have more surveillance capability than everyone else, this situation is sold to us as “security.” And the issue is not that no measure of security can be had from this arrangement. The issue is that whatever so-called “security” this set-up does happen to offer you is a matter of benevolence from everyone above you in the pyramid. Let’s take a second look at these. What are these things? I bet at least half of you are thinking to yourselves, “Those are security cameras,” aren’t you? But these cameras do not, themselves, provide security. These are surveillance cameras. They collect data about everything they can see. That data—that video record—only increases your security if the person who controls the video record has your best interests at heart. Otherwise, the data collected by these cameras only help the people controlling the cameras; think about the huge difference between cameras on cops, and cops on camera. So the people who perform the most powerful surveillance in the world are at the top of the pyramid—that would be the USA, and the UK, etc. Anyone who chooses to rely on such surveillance for their “security” is putting blind trust in everyone who performs more powerful surveillance than they can. A common fallacy is that with total surveillance comes security. That is, they say that after you give up your privacy, they will give you security. But what we see in reality is that even with that total surveillance, you still have the Westgate Shopping Mall terrorist attack in Kenya, you still have the Boston Marathon bombing, you still have the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church shooting in downtown Charleston, and it is not stopped. Not to mention things like SWAT-ting, abusive phone calls from your evil ex, and the constant small harassments normal people deal with on a daily basis. And these attacks are not stopped because surveillance, itself, is not security. Surveillance brings the ability to control some people some of the time, because “When we know we might be under surveillance, our behavior changes. We might decide not to go to a political meeting, to censor what we tell friends, family, and colleagues, thinking it might fall into the wrong hands or simply be made public. Under surveillance we may decide not to become a whistleblower.” Surveillance erodes privacy, which is a necessary condition for thinking and expressing oneself freely. But it still does not make us safe. So our privacy is violated, our ability to express ourselves is controlled. Meanwhile, violent attacks on random individuals are rarely stopped. Our security is far from guaranteed. The people who benefit from surveillance are the people behind the video camera, not the people in front of it. If we can’t rely on big, powerful surveillance states with sophisticated technology to have our best interests at heart—and we can’t—what can we do to keep ourselves safe and secure? In the digital realm, we can encrypt, because encryption doesn’t depend on anybody else’s good will. It depends solely on math. No amount of physical force can coerce or threaten math. The police cannot beat up encryption algorithms with a nightstick. Encryption, like an idea, is literally bulletproof. —CryptoParty Albuquerque: A gentle introduction to threats and how to defend against them, by maymay -- source link

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