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Eugene

(61,881 posts)
Wed Nov 6, 2013, 08:48 PM Nov 2013

Tim Berners-Lee: encryption cracking by spy agencies 'appalling and foolish'

Source: The Guardian

Tim Berners-Lee: encryption cracking by spy agencies 'appalling and foolish'

Ed Pilkington in Cambridge, Massachusetts
The Guardian, Wednesday 6 November 2013 18.19 GMT

Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the computer scientist who created the world wide web, has called for a "full and frank public debate" over internet surveillance by the National Security Agency and its British counterpart, GCHQ, warning that the system of checks and balances to oversee the agencies has failed.

As the inventor of the global system of inter-connectivity known as the web, with its now ubiquitous www and http, Berners-Lee is uniquely qualified to comment on the internet spying revealed by the former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.

In an interview with the Guardian, he expressed particular outrage that GCHQ and the NSA had weakened online security by cracking much of the online encryption on which hundreds of millions of users rely to guard data privacy.

He said the agencies' decision to break the encryption software was appalling and foolish, as it directly contradicted efforts of the US and UK governments to fight cybercrime and cyberwarfare, which they have identified as a national security priority. Berners-Lee also said it was a betrayal of the technology industry.

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Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/06/tim-berners-lee-encryption-spy-agencies
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Tim Berners-Lee: encryption cracking by spy agencies 'appalling and foolish' (Original Post) Eugene Nov 2013 OP
Yes and no Warpy Nov 2013 #1

Warpy

(111,255 posts)
1. Yes and no
Wed Nov 6, 2013, 09:08 PM
Nov 2013

I am delighted that cracking Tor turned up hundreds of kiddie porn producers and customers. That was overdue and why I stopped using it when the rebels in Iran turned to the Haystack Project.

I'm just disgusted that they've cast such a wide net worldwide. It's insane. It's disgusting. It needs to stop.

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