Online messages

[Roxie100]

Is any body else concerned about the message now on the site that says government could view online messages and emails ?

 

[Yoyojoejoe]

Since when?

 

[Roxie100]

Since when?

There is a message at the top of my page that says a bill is going through Congress that would allow government to scan messages and emails if passed

 

[FohPah]

I saw the message and closed it. Not sure if everyone has seen it or if everyone even remembers closing it.

@Roxie100 is referring to the EARN IT Bill, which was recently proposed in US Congress. From what I've read, it's an underhanded attempt to pressure tech companies into making information that we thought was private available to law enforcement. The bill doesn't explicitly say the government will now be able to read our emails. Instead, it gives a small, unelected, unaccountable group of people the authority to invent "best practices", whatever that means -- and if a company doesn't follow these best practices, then it loses its long-standing legal protection from being sued to death in bullshit lawsuits unrelated to government spying.

The fear is that the US government will choose a small group of people who are in favor of mass surveillance and don't understand (or don't care about) the importance of end-to-end encryption. Those people could then invent the "best practice" of "give us all your data in a way that we can easily snoop through", with the threat of "if you don't, then you'll get hit with a bunch of lawsuits that you can't afford."

So yeah, it would be pretty bad if this bill gets passed. I don't think it will, though. It's too easy to see the trick they're trying to play.

 

[Yoyojoejoe]

There is a message at the top of my page that says a bill is going through Congress that would allow government to scan messages and emails if passed

Ahh thank you! :)

 

[Roxie100]

I saw the message and closed it. Not sure if everyone has seen it or if everyone even remembers closing it.

@Roxie100 is referring to the EARN IT Bill, which was recently proposed in US Congress. From what I've read, it's an underhanded attempt to pressure tech companies into making information that we thought was private available to law enforcement. The bill doesn't explicitly say the government will now be able to read our emails. Instead, it gives a small, unelected, unaccountable group of people the authority to invent "best practices", whatever that means -- and if a company doesn't follow these best practices, then it loses its long-standing legal protection from being sued to death in bullshit lawsuits unrelated to government spying.

The fear is that the US government will choose a small group of people who are in favor of mass surveillance and don't understand (or don't care about) the importance of end-to-end encryption. Those people could then invent the "best practice" of "give us all your data in a way that we can easily snoop through", with the threat of "if you don't, then you'll get hit with a bunch of lawsuits that you can't afford."

So yeah, it would be pretty bad if this bill gets passed. I don't think it will, though. It's too easy to see the trick they're trying to play.

Thanks for explaining it.

 

[Darkhaven]

Saw it last week too.
Eh, i don't care tbh, i'm not commiting any crime other than expressing my opinions and freedom of speech. I have all the right to say that i don't wanna live no more.

 

[win32]

Saw it last week too.
Eh, i don't care tbh, i'm not commiting any crime other than expressing my opinions and freedom of speech. I have all the right to say that i don't wanna live no more.

If the government is fully aware you're actively(?) suicidal, they have a higher chance of successful intervention if you do something like order N, or they could do an inconveniently-timed welfare check.

 

[Brick In The Wall]

The entire internet is screen capped in real time and has been for years. The US Gov. also captures every single text or phone call. This bill is just a way for them to further weaponize what they already collect.

I think it's inevitable that they eventually pass this bill or something like it. Thought crimes are quickly becoming a reality. I feel sorry for future generations.