Is David Cameron (British Prime Minister) realistic when he proposes banning messaging apps?
The British response to the events in France last week is to seek the banning of messaging apps (WhatsApp, Snapchat, and others) because they encrypt messages – making it more difficult for the government to eavesdrop.
Here’s the link: NYTimes
Putting aside the utter impracticality of the idea – how do you criminalize applications that millions of people use?, and if one app can be written, so can a dozen more – what does this say about the British reaction?
Is a 100% surveillance society really in civilization’s best interests?
Who makes sure that the people doing the surveillance are, themselves, honest and above board?
Cameron, I imagine, means well. But is this approach realistic?
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It’s not the “British response” so it says nothing about the “British reaction”
Cameron is an arse & only says a new tory government would try to implement such a daft policy.
He won’t be re-elected, so its all good.
It sounds like he’s completely unaware of what world he is now living in, technologically. He needs better advisors, and now. How can the leader of a country be unaware of what work his own national security forces are doing? I have to assume that they know what is possible and what is not; how can he be that far behind them?
@ucme I wish you better luck than we had.
@dappled_leaves He definitely won’t, but the Labour leader is actually worse, no, really
It is retarded. While we are at it, let us open or X-ray every single letter because you can not look through the envelope.
‘A matter of internal security’ – the age-old cry of the oppressor. – Jean Luc Picard.
@ucme Sounds like our countries have similar problems. I can’t remember the last time people weren’t rooting for a minority government.
@dappled_leaves Well then it appears we are worse off, even our minority parties((UKIP/Liberal Democrats/BNP are a bunch of looney toons
We have some of the best intel available in the US and that didn’t stop 9/11, Boston Bombing and the shootings in France. What is most frightening to me is I have a friend in the FBI and said you would never be able to sleep if you knew half of what they have intercepted and just how organized and determined these terrorists groups are.
Gotta love how the response to an “attack on freedom,” is always more attacks on freedom (but by the govt).
We have lost way more freedoms through our governments response to terrorism, than from terrorists themselves. I believe the idea of banning messaging apps is a distraction from what these governments want, and already have, which is an internet “kill switch,” just like the ones that have been used during the middle east uprisings.
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