[LINK] Surveillance

[Roger Clarke]

In public interest advocacy, you do end up with odd friends.

Eric Schmidt has presided over the world's most privacy-invasive 
corporation, and he said in 2009, "If you have something that you 
don't want [Google and its customers] to know, maybe you shouldn't be 
doing it in the first place" .

But corporations are good, whereas governments are bad.

So now Schmidt reckons encryption is needed, to "overcome government 
surveillance".

But presumably, in order to sustain Google's business model, the keys 
will be managed by Google ...

________________________________________________________________________

At 18:07 +0000 21/11/13, Stephen Loosley wrote:
><http://gadgets.ndtv.com/internet/news/googles-schmidt-predicts-end-of-government-censorship-spying-within-a-decade-449032> 
>(snip)
>
>
>Google Inc Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt has a bold prediction: 
>Censorship around the world could end in a decade, and better use of 
>encryption will help people overcome government surveillance.
>
>In a lecture at Johns Hopkins University on Wednesday, the executive 
>of the world's biggest web search company made a pitch for .. 
>countries protecting communication from spying.
>
>"First they try to block you; second, they try to infiltrate you; 
>and third, you win. I really think that's how it works. Because the 
>power is shifted," he said.
>
>On the home front Google is now one of several tech companies 
>embroiled in the controversy over the reach of U.S. government 
>spying. 
>
>Top secret documents disclosed by former spy agency 
>contractor Edward Snowden have suggested the National Security 
>Agency has tapped Google's and others' communications links to aid 
>in its gathering of intelligence.
>
>Schmidt at the time said that the NSA's activity, if true, was 
>outrageous and potentially illegal.
>
>"The solution to government surveillance is to encrypt everyone," 
>Schmidt said on Wednesday, referring to the process of encoding data 
>to secure it.
>
>He acknowledged that encryption can be broken and said Snowden's 
>revelations showed the NSA has indeed done it, but added: "With 
>sufficiently long keys and changing the keys all the time, it turns 
>out it's very, very difficult for the interloper of any kind to go 
>in and do that."
>
>Google has recently increased the length and complexity of its 
>encryption keys, Schmidt said, calling it a constant "game of cat 
>and mouse" between the governments and Internet users.
>
>"It's pretty clear to me that government surveillance and the way in 
>which governments are doing this will be here to stay in some form, 
>because it's how the citizens will express themselves, and the 
>governments will want to know what they're doing," Schmidt said.
>
>"In that race, I think (they) will lose, and I think that people 
>would be empowered."
>
>--
>Cheers,
>Stephen			  		 
>_______________________________________________
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-- 
Roger Clarke                                 http://www.rogerclarke.com/
			            
Xamax Consultancy Pty Ltd      78 Sidaway St, Chapman ACT 2611 AUSTRALIA
Tel: +61 2 6288 6916                        http://about.me/roger.clarke
mailto:Roger.Clarke at xamax.com.au                http://www.xamax.com.au/

Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Law            University of N.S.W.
Visiting Professor in Computer Science    Australian National University