HACKER Q&A
📣 9wzYQbTYsAIc

Government back doors, would you rather?


Ignoring, for the sake of specificity in discussion, the alternatives such as “no back doors ever”, using whatever reasoning you want for how the false dichotomy may hypothetically arise (mine being a what-if scenario: what if a domestic US warrant were acquired to bug a physical residence of an entity with video surveillance and the equivalent were needed for electronic residence), would you rather:

Have a government backdoor to encryption?

OR

Have a government backdoor to screen capture?

I know the question is heavily loaded, but I’m curious as to where warrant-based screen capturing would be placed relative to warrant-based encryption back doors.

  👤 nness Accepted Answer ✓
"Have a government backdoor to screen capture?" would probably be the least disruptive for two assumptions:

1. They can only see what you're currently doing, not see everything you have ever done, which I assume because:

2. They can't record everyone forever as storage would be insane, and right now, a backdoor to encryption avoids that issue by just using the company's storage.

(Assuming a "NSA style wiretap" operation and not a court-ordered surveillance)

👤 austincheney
Since almost nobody bothers to encrypt their personal data at rest I don’t see the need for a backdoor. If, via a warrant, you have physical access to the hardware you have all you need, in most cases.