Three thoughts on Snowden's SXSW appearance
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Edward Snowden's coming out party at the SXSW conference on Monday was largely a geekfest, with most discussion focused on what technology firms should do to allow consumers snoop-free communications. You can review the discussion in plenty of places if you like, but I suspect if you care about those details, you were watching. I thought there were three important highlights that could capture anyone's imagination.
First, Encryption actually does work. Ed Snowden has proven that. For those who have taken the fatalist view that the government can find out anything it wants, so there is no privacy, Snowden's message was clear: That's just not true.
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Second, there was a question: Which is worse -- Governments knowing everything you do, or corporations knowing everything you do? Snowden and commentator Chris Soghoian from the ACLU both said we have more to fear from government surveillance. I'm unconvinced, though they made convincing arguments.
And finally, where the U.S. goes, everyone will follow.
1) Encryption works.
There was a very logical question that sounded something like this: Isn't this fight over, and the NSA can just listen to anything it wants? No, not at all, said Snowden. Legions of US investigators are chasing every lead they have on Snowden, and still concede they don't actually know what documents he has. It's easy to imagine the NSA has thrown every asset it has at this investigation, and Snowden has managed to preserve the privacy of his actions, proving that encryption and other secret-keeping techniques still work. Soghoian made the practical point that for the vast majority of consumers, if the NSA wants to watch you, it will. But well-implemented encryption makes mass surveillance impractical.
The main takeaway here: The old "You have no privacy, get over it" saw is inaccurate. In my opinion, it's actually the biggest threat to our digital future. Learned helplessness, and the complacence it brings, is a far bigger threat than some loose cannons at three-letter agencies in Washington D.C. We must fight to keep privacy, not surrender before there's even a discussion.
2. Do you fear the government, or corporations, more?
On this question, Snowden made the compelling argument -- and he's in quite a position to make it -- that governments can deprive people of freedom. That makes them more scary as privacy invaders than corporations selling ads. That's obviously true, but as a practical matter, I think the day-to-day threat to privacy is far more serious for most people from unbridled capitalists than aggressive law enforcement. The question is a bit moot anyway, as any data you share with a corporation is basically shared with the government anyway, thanks to the Third Party Rule which governs the U.S., courtesy of the Supreme Court. (Give your data to a third party, and you surrender your expectation of privacy).
3. Bonus - We will lead the world
Snowden said the U.S. will set the example for the world on digital surveillance, and that's no doubt true. We lead the world in surveillance technology, which also means we have the most to lose from cyberthreats. If NSA data collection and surveillance is allowed to continue without checks, every government on Earth will simply imitate our techniques, and we surely won't have any moral high ground to stop them. Even if we, in name, limit our surveillance to foreign nationals, we simply put U.S. citizens at the same risk from foreign governments.