Stick’em with the pointy end
Since I have been spending a great deal of my time playing in the field of 3D design and printing, I have only recently stumbled upon, and had time to read, “Privacy for Me and Not for Thee,” penned by Catherine A. Fitzpatrick, a human rights activist whom I first encountered in the virtual world of Second Life.
In the book, Fitzpatrick weaves an intriguing and thought provoking tale of Edward Snowden and those who defend him. Delving into, to my mind, the most interesting part of this particular story, the trajectory of the Cypherpunk movement, beginning with their 1992 battle cry and quite unlike its 1986 predecessor.
While I may not always agree with Fitzpatrick’s conclusions… that is, I admittedly tend to lean toward Hanlon’s razor (I’ve worked & played with these sort, and as far as I am concerned, they are, for the most part, bumbling oafs and chest pounders), she raises relevant questions that are worthy of further scrutiny. The least of which involves Jacob Appelbaum, and what role, if any, he had to play with regard to Snowden accessing and eventually releasing to the world, NSA classified documents.
While Snowden may be the central character of this book, he is arguably, not the central theme. Rather, he is the catalyst that coheres the author’s thought exercise. And if he was recruited and groomed, as proposed, I would proffer that he is, in this case, the cat’s paw.
Otherwise put, consider this, if you will: a largely unknown “so-called” hacker, Edward Snowden uses his sysadmin contract position to access and download NSA classified documents to his thumb drive, and flee. First to Hong Kong, and then to Russia. All of his own accord and purely due to altruistic intentions. Where he began and where he ended, however, begs further investigation. Especially in light of Snowden’s staged and ill-fated Putin Q&A, as well as Putin’s curious response.
And further investigation is what we receive. Replete with links to source material. Even so, conclusions may and do differ. So, while the collective we may never really agree that Snowden is a hero, a traitor, the pawn of darker machinations, or any combination thereof, the backstory covered in this book is in and of itself, fascinating.
As for NSA and their spy games and the wafting vapors fanned by the media machine upon a largely fainting and ignorant public? That anyone is surprised that a spy agency is… well… spying, admittedly boggles this writer’s mind. Moreover, that some who flaunt their personal lives in a very public way on social networks (apparently convincing themselves they are doing so in the privacy of their own homes, behind closed doors and drawn shades), are surprised NSA (and everyone else, especially ad campaigners) is in the business of data collecting, is another mind boggler.
But, I digress.
Fitzpatrick’s book weaves a provocative and believable web of intrigue. One foreshadowed by the
The Crypto Anarchist Manifesto of yesteryear, taking the form of crypto currencies such as bitcoin, and anonymous p2p social networks, such as Twister, that the bitcoin protocol invites.
Now, add to the aforementioned, the heartbleed bug, companies coming together to fund core opensource development, while others fork the original openSSL code, and google ostensibly providing an easier path to encrypted email, and?
Fitzpatrick may very well be onto something.
Even so. Even if you believe we are ever closer to achieving total and complete encryption, and therefore, total and complete privacy. Don’t believe the lie.
Importantly, remember this. Encryption, in the context of inet, only covers the transport layers. Even if you wrap your data in an encrypted envelope and send it on random hops through Tor or a VPN, the data still must be decrypted to be read by the recipient.
Again, encryption, in the context of inet, only covers the transport layers.
Which is the primary “pointy stick” and title of Fitzpatrick’s book.