[912] in libertarians
Re: PGP and mail
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Travis Corcoran)
Sun Apr 23 12:47:51 1995
Date: Sun, 23 Apr 95 12:43:17 EDT
From: tjic@ICD.Teradyne.COM (Travis Corcoran)
To: libertarians@MIT.EDU
In-Reply-To: <9504231627.AA06542@bluebeard.cs.mcgill.ca> (message from Kevin THEOBALD on Sun, 23 Apr 95 12:27:38 -0400)
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> Date: Sun, 23 Apr 95 12:27:38 -0400
> From: Kevin THEOBALD <theobald@bluebeard.cs.mcgill.ca>
>
> With all the talk about the Exon bill and the govt. exploiting
> the OK bombing to crush PGP, I've gone and reread the PGP documents
> by Zimmermann. He drew an analogy between systems like PGP and
> envelopes: the govt. can crack PGP messages, just like it can
> steam open envelopes, but both take effort. Zimmermann compared
> unencrypted e-mail to sending snail-mail on postcards, since both
> can be read by third parties without effort.
>
> Suppose that everyone, as a ROUTINE, even for mailing in their phone
> bills, were to write something across the flaps on their envelopes in
> their own handwriting, the way the MIT Registrar's office seals
> envelopes containing transcripts. The feds can still open your mail,
> but it will take more effort to conceal the evidence (by carefully
> aligning the flaps), or maybe they won't bother and will assume the
> recipient won't notice.
I am far more afraid of the Government reading my email than my
snailmail.
Reasons:
cost: it is prohibitively costly for the feds to snoop my paper mail.
Automated email snooping is possible, and could thus be
deployed against me for a less serious reason, or for no
reason at all
risk: they could get caught if someone at either end notices
the tampering on snail mail. Email snooping leaves no traces.
contents: I discuss politics, cryptography, etc. over the Net,
not on hardcopy. If the government wants to know my phone
bill, it would be easier for them to just ask AT&T.
The additional security of signing my name on a hardcopy envelope is
negligible; I'm sure that a country that can drop smart bombs down a 2
foot air vent from a plane flying half a mile up can open an envelope
and reseal it well.
Over the coming decade(s) snail mail will falter and die. We'll get
catalogs on Web pages, pay our bills with encrypted digital checks,
etc. Going to any effort to add dubious security to a medium which
does not need it, and will not long survive seems like wasted time.
- --
TJIC (Travis J.I. Corcoran) TJIC@icd.teradyne.com
Member EFF, NRA, GOAL
opinions(TJIC) != opinions(employer(TJIC))
"Buy a rifle, encrypt your data, and wait for the Revolution!"
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