White House: "We expect" Hong Kong to comply with Snowden extradition

[JDPriestly]

61. I agree.

"The only way we can keep people out of our shit that matters, though, isn't to make it more secure--that won't cut it because for every lock, there's a locksmith. I think what we need to learn from all this is to find a better way. We'll just have to create methodologies that don't use "the internet" to transfer data. We need a segregated system, not an information superhighway, but a separate tunnel that only can be accessed by specific individuals, that's compartmentalized, that does not intersect with the internet in any way (data must be manually transferred, after being vetted), and, because it's a closed system, can't be hacked from afar. That probably needs to be the new paradigm, with NO access to "the internet" from classified workstations, and no ability to upload data to a thumb drive from closed systems without vetting at several levels. Sure, people could use their cellphones and take screenshots, but make THEM work for it, if they have nefarious hearts."

Anyone who really wants to know my identity and is savvy about the internet can probably find me, but I don't throw my information and opinions up on Facebook or twitter with my mug shot displayed. That makes it too easy for the kooks.

But then that means that my freedom of speech and association is jeopardized on the internet. It is shocking that they are keeping metadata form phone calls. No one would care about mine, but if I were a politician, whether at a local or national level, I would be utterly enraged. And I am enraged on behalf of members of the legislative and judicial branches as well as local and state governments. These programs chill speech. There are better ways to keep secrets. There have to be.

No one would be interested in my secrets, but I have known people whose secrets were worth protecting. And when I was responsible for protecting them, I tried to do so and generally succeeded. If we don't have the privacy we need to make mistakes, we cannot grow and learn. That is the irony. This impedes growth and change.

I agree. The solution is to really protect the secrets in the first place, not to construct a huge apparatus that spies on ordinary people and collects a lot of useless but in rare instances potentially embarrassing data.