Is Using Encryption Suspicious? Half of America Says ‘Yes’

21st Century Wire says…
[Mar 18, 2015]

It’s official: The US federal government is addicted to spying on its own citizens – a tyrannical vice which is in direct contravention with the US Constution and Bill Of Rights.

Establishment think tank, the Pew Research Center, has found in its latest report the US public does cares about privacy – but has no idea how to protect their data, and which tools they can use.

“Large numbers of Americans say they are anxious about their privacy, and yet, there’s this fairly significant gap in knowledge.”

Some big tech firms appear to be working to change this trend by educating users and marketing new privacy tools. How well they work, and whether we can trust these firms not to collude illegally with US government agencies – is a another matter all together.

The bigger question however – and the one that 21WIRE is interested in – is whether or not those of us who opt for using encrypted products will be profiled by the US government snoops as ‘suspicious’ and will that choice be used against us to assign guilt before the fact? According to Pew’s findings on this, it seems like that is the case.

The second issue is a clandestine one. Are certain companies who are offering ‘encrypted email and communication’ products actually giving the other half of their encryption key over to the NSA – as was the case before? If so, is this level of cooperation illegal, or will it be “protected” as part of a “National Security” program, or even classified?

Welcome to the new digital Stasi…

The Switch

Nearly two years after former government contractor Edward Snowden revealed details of extensive government surveillance programs, a Pew Research report suggests that the news has prompted some Americans to change their approach to online privacy.

The group surveyed about 500 adult Americans, finding that nearly 90 percent of them had heard about government surveillance programs and more than a third of those aware of the programs “have taken at least one step to hide or shield their information from the government,” the report said.

Though the report found that a majority of Americans are skeptical of government surveillance programs, it also found very few are taking the extra step of encrypting the content of their e-mails. In fact, half of those surveyed said using encryption software gives the government enough suspicion to monitor a U.S. citizen’s communications.

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May 22, 2015 | Categories: censorship, consciousness, news, surveillance, tyranny, US | Tags: cryptography | Leave a comment