<story><title>Why Are We Fighting the Crypto Wars Again?</title><url>https://medium.com/@stevenlevy/b5310a423295#.v775mh4mp</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>aftbit</author><text>We will fight this battle over and over every few years until we lose, just like every battle for our civil rights.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>mc32</author><text>This may be an unpopular take but I think it has some merit.&lt;p&gt;Cryptography is not the answer to surveillance.  It has its place but that place is not to keep everyone&amp;#x27;s data secret _and_ irretrievable as plaintext except by its holder (never mind owner), if they retain the key.&lt;p&gt;The answer will be legal and political.&lt;p&gt;I cannot see the endgame where all data is forever gone, with the exception where people proactively plaintext their data for future generations.&lt;p&gt;Let&amp;#x27;s say instead of iPhone contacts or chat conversations we begin keeping tax records, transactions, commerce, etc. secret, except for the person or entity encrypting the data (who may or may not be the owner).  What if the heirs need that data or third parties, lawfully?  What about discovery in court cases?  What if someone comes up with malware which encrypts your data and you have no backup?&lt;p&gt;How do we reconcile wanting data to be available (free) with also wanting everything encrypted for posteriority --do we just forgo that treasure trove of data?&lt;p&gt;I&amp;#x27;m not saying don&amp;#x27;t encrypt on transmission, or even at rest, simply (or complicatedly) that we have a way to data once it&amp;#x27;s lawfully determined it can be should be made available to second and third parties, including the public.</text></comment>
<story><title>Why Are We Fighting the Crypto Wars Again?</title><url>https://medium.com/@stevenlevy/b5310a423295#.v775mh4mp</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>aftbit</author><text>We will fight this battle over and over every few years until we lose, just like every battle for our civil rights.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>VonGuard</author><text>Agreed, but I really feel like this time, the public vaguely understands and has more of a stake in it than before. Now, keep in mind, this is just as important to the day-to-day user as it was in the cypherpunk days, but now, everyone has a device in their hands that they can touch, and know is related to this. The public knows how precious its data is, now.&lt;p&gt;The last time this fight occurred... the last two times this fight occurred, actually, no one in the public had any clue what we were all talking about.</text></comment>