02-05-2022, 02:09 PM
Well, there are laws that hinder the government doing it themselves, and politics in how they use the snooping they already do. It's overseen by courts and other ambitious politicians looking to score a cheap propaganda victory. They don't care about us at all, but it's a political football subject to countless fingers. This EARN IT Act is an effort to farm it out to third parties so that it bypasses political protections.
But I don't buy into everything the EFF has to say about it, and I think they may even be missing the point. Think about how this bill, in its current form, tosses the football to the individual states. Think about the differences in how Red and Blue States do things. Blue States are already on top of this stuff, and most tech companies are within their borders. Red States will have to play catch up; they aren't prone to this kind of thing in the first place. Those Red States that do anything at all will tend to capitalize on the propaganda value of seeking to catch child predators, while few will have the experience and capability for restricting Big Tech where they work within Red State borders. Meanwhile, the Blue States and Big Tech will be driven even more tightly together. This is going to favor the leftist elements in the US, which includes Big Tech. They'll do even more snooping than ever, including spying on hapless Red State government figures and any other opposition out there. Meanwhile, they will have a government mandate to report that snooping to any state and federal agencies that are ready to work with them.
Again, it's incremental, but I think it will turn into a pretty big increment. There is a very high risk that the true fallout will be the end of lawful encryption. I'm not sure how far they can reach in actual practice, but I have no doubt that politicians are drooling at the chance to kill consumer encryption use. That's true for both left and right. This thing will have multiple echoes in the future.
But I don't buy into everything the EFF has to say about it, and I think they may even be missing the point. Think about how this bill, in its current form, tosses the football to the individual states. Think about the differences in how Red and Blue States do things. Blue States are already on top of this stuff, and most tech companies are within their borders. Red States will have to play catch up; they aren't prone to this kind of thing in the first place. Those Red States that do anything at all will tend to capitalize on the propaganda value of seeking to catch child predators, while few will have the experience and capability for restricting Big Tech where they work within Red State borders. Meanwhile, the Blue States and Big Tech will be driven even more tightly together. This is going to favor the leftist elements in the US, which includes Big Tech. They'll do even more snooping than ever, including spying on hapless Red State government figures and any other opposition out there. Meanwhile, they will have a government mandate to report that snooping to any state and federal agencies that are ready to work with them.
Again, it's incremental, but I think it will turn into a pretty big increment. There is a very high risk that the true fallout will be the end of lawful encryption. I'm not sure how far they can reach in actual practice, but I have no doubt that politicians are drooling at the chance to kill consumer encryption use. That's true for both left and right. This thing will have multiple echoes in the future.