For our project, we wrote a Letter to the governor of Indiana, Mike Pence, asking him to please support strong encryption.
I believe that encryption is a fundamental right. The men and women in this country have a right to own their property and information and protect it with whatever means they see fit. I don’t believe such a technology is achievable as of yet, but I believe that citizens should be allowed to have technology that can completely lock out the government. The government, in the name of the rights of the people, should support this is well. Even with this technology, the government could still compel you to reveal it with a warrant in some cases, and you could invoke your 5th amendment rights to avoid self incrimination if the technology truly prevented anyone from reading it.
Personally, I think encryption should be important to everyone. It has the potential to make everyone vulnerable to attack and exploitation if the US Government gets the backdoor it so desperately wants. I support strong, unaltered and uncompromising encryption, and it certainly affects who I support politically and financially when I can choose to do so. I think everyone should be mindful of what their choices with their money and their vote truly support, especially on issues such as this.
Unfortunately, I am afraid that in the struggle between national security and personal privacy, national security will win out. Personal privacy, when it does succumb, will likely do so in the wake of some great conflict or tragedy, sacrificed so that something like that catalytic event could never again happen. It is another method for control, and maintaining the status quo, and will be undoubtably supported by most of the current political powers and parties. The patriot act after 9/11 granted a ridiculous amount of power to our government in terms of surveillance, and that was just the first domino in the line of “national security” legislative acts to come. I am not resigned to this fate, and will do whatever I can to support personal privacy and the rights of the people. I fear that the interests of the few will win out, and eventually silence the voice of the many, but I don’t see any advantage to accepting any fate as of yet. If this election is proving anything, it is that future of our nation’s political climate is unsure and ever changing. Hopefully, the people can influence this ever changing political landscape for their own benefit.
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