[6081] in cryptography@c2.net mail archive
Re: ECHELON Watch
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Dan Geer)
Wed Nov 17 11:21:44 1999
Message-Id: <199911171605.LAA13343@world.std.com>
To: Julian Assange <proff@iq.org>
Cc: bram <bram@gawth.com>, cryptography@c2.net
In-reply-to: Your message of "17 Nov 1999 20:19:22 EST."
<wxiu314grp.fsf@suburbia.net>
Date: Wed, 17 Nov 1999 11:05:03 -0500
From: Dan Geer <geer@world.std.com>
> > >ACLU today launched a new web site www.echelonwatch.org...
>
> I find the phrasing of this site curious...
You're talking about end-product...
It is my strong suspicion that whereas the lead
enjoyed by national agencies in crypto matters
is substantial, such leads as they may still enjoy
are diminishing rapidly with one exception, viz.,
traffic analysis. In that area -- the intelligence
value of knowing who is talking to whom, by what
channel, and with what pattern -- their lead is
vast and likely sustainable. I suspect that this
is the highest and best use of the Echelon data.
That cataloging is of immense value, witness the
vigor of the pushing and shoving in the matter
of what it was that J. Pollard disclosed.
--dan
