e-ignite

In a word… no!

According to this news story, the US Government have been illegally demanding people’s personal data from banks, credit card companies, telephone companies etc without getting the correct court authorisation first. All this at a time when the infamous “Patriot Act” is allowing them to monitor email traffic and internet data… even though they promise not to use it unless there’s “reason for suspicion.”

Bu, maybe I’m being unfair in the title. We can’t trust the US government with our emails, but can we trust any government with them? I suspect probably not. Recently, I wrote about the UK Government wanting to throw you in jail if you refuse to give them your private keys. As I discussed in that article, I can’t help but feel that the percieved threat of terrorism is much higher than the actual threat, and this perception of a threat is being used by governments shamefully (particularly the UK and US) to bypass the rights of their citizens. There seems to be an assumption by law enforcement that if something is transferred over the internet, it is somehow less personal and less “legally protected” than something transferred on paper. How do they know terrorists and other criminals don’t write each other letters? I’m pretty sure they don’t make copies of everything in the mail system.
There is, of course, a need for criminals to be caught, but this need should not erase everyone’s right to privacy. Governments should be presenting a court with evidence of suspicion of a crime, and with a correct court order, I agree that people should be forced to decrypt their emails and files. I have always said, and I still maintain that if the government suspect me of a crime, if they presented me with a legitimate court document, I would gladly decrypt everything on my computer and prove to them that I am not a criminal. However until they have a legal document, they have no right to see the contents of my computer and communications in the same way that the police have no right to search my home without a warrant.