US Govt to Ban Encryption? Facebook fights back

On Tuesday, Congress said it intends to pass legislation to regulate encryption if Silicon Valley doesn’t give the government complete access to everyone’s private communications.

Attorney General William P. Barr demanded that no one should have to right to private communications, and that the government should have access to everything.

Senator Lindsey Graham said: “You’re going to find a way to do this, or we’re going to do this for you ... You’re either the solution or you’re the problem.”

WeChat and Facebook Messenger executives responded to the government letter, saying that a “backdoor” would make their users less safe: “The ‘backdoor’ access you are demanding for law enforcement would be a gift to criminals, hackers and repressive regimes, creating a way for them to enter our systems and leaving every person on our platforms more vulnerable to real-life harm."

Also, end-to-end encryption is the only way that we can have private communication online.

The entire tone of a society changes when people know they’re being surveilled. We self-censor. We conform and live in fear. A surveilled society is a repressed society, and we are dangerously close to having every part of our lives observed.

Facebook has recently begun a transition to a more privacy-focused platform, with Zuckerberg saying “Privacy gives people the freedom to be themselves and connect more naturally, which is why we build social networks.”

Let's hope they succeed, and the government doesn't get in their way.

Recommended Books:

Permanent Record - Edward Snowden

What has the government done to our money - Rothbard

Naomi's Privacy Bag: some of my favorite products to help protect your privacy!

USB-C to ethernet adapter:

Lightening to ethernet adapter:

Faraday bag wallet (signal stopping, to protect your fob, credit card, and phone)

Data Blocker (if you're charging your phone in an unknown port, use this so that no data is transferred)

Computer privacy screen (use your computer in public? Keep your information safe!)

Phone privacy screen (don't let people in public see your private data)

Camera cover (for computers and phones, so no one can access your camera without you knowing)

Privacy Tip: Don't use wifi, and if you must, append the tag ‘_nomap’ or ‘_optout’ to your SSID to stop other websites tracking your location.

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[themadcow]

Cool. I'm so glad that the government says privacy isn't necessary. I guess now we'll all get open access to all government communications.

[keithattlesey]

As a U.S. citizen, I’m embarrassed by certain Congress members’ lack of knowledge of, and/or outright hostility toward, the 4th Amendment. Their jobs require them to uphold, not tear down, the Constitution. It’s outrageous and sickening. Authoritarianism is anathema to liberty. Keep up the great work and spreading the crucial message of privacy, Naomi.

[sctpc]

The Australian Government also has back doors to our Apps, makes you wonder whos worse China or the west

[stadvardom]

This is one more reason why I’m politically homeless. I can’t stand any of these people, on either side.

[kenambo]

No to 100% surveillance of the 99% innocent.

[natemarx]

The brightness of the Queen's red hair is at 101.

[utripsfree]

Naomi. Thank you. You’re the best... I appreciate what all you’ve reported on. Helping us be aware of important points and issues that matter.

[themadcow]

I don't need any privacy at all. That's why I don't wear any clothes in summer.

[erinjames]

Naomi...thank you for the heads up! The mass stalking of citizens is disturbing.

[Scruffers]

Time for decentralized social media behind VPNs.

[IndSovU]

Gag orders are circumvented by the "canary in a coalmine" strategy. Company posts a page on their public web site. When they remove the page, they've been gagged.

[robertbaker]

Facebook would be a great place for social scores and fines posted.

[busymountain]

Excellent info Naomi. If we don’t have privacy we don’t have a country we have a cell.

[mertelnd]

No where is truly free any more unless you can unplug from the system.

[billkuo]

Just discovered your channel and I like it a lot! If you could add links to the sources you use, that would be very useful! A long time follower of The Hated One and I was surprised to find another channel that also talks about these issues.

[mikkenieminen]

Who issostupid tohave a alexa kind of device in their home

[phizicks]

right, so what I need to do is design an open platform for social media that runs from your own home but shared as a mesh. so basiclly a facebook that's globally distributed. then there's no central managed corporate.I run my own mail server, cloud server in my home network and own password system. best i could get
gee, and I thought the chinese were bad

[samuraisaint]

It’s almost like we are living in North Korea 🇰🇵, , soon we ll all have to bow 🙇 down and worship the leader at 1:00pm everyday

[oricoil]

If you are talking about privacy from the 5 eye governments, you should take into account that most probably by now all root-CAs (certificate authorities) already freely share all our private keys (which they generate) with those governments.
Unfortunately for those cases encryption based on CA generated keys can no longer be trusted.

[UltimateBargains]

Ban privacy, ban cash, ban guns, ban private property (Civil Asset Forfeiture).