Your Privacy, the FBI and the NSA

In case you haven't noticed, incidences of terrorism are becoming more common in the United States. Between Unabom, the recent Oklahoma City bombing committed by Tim McVeigh, and the Columbine shootings, awareness of American terrorists operating inside the U.S. has never been higher.

The death, destruction, and tragedy wrought by terrorists is devestating and terrible. I cannot imagine the depth of sorrow and anger the survivors and loved ones of victims feel, nor can I begin to appreciate the frustration and sense of powerlessness the FBI agents involved in the Unabom case must feel. However, it would be an even greater tragedy if these events led to not only loss of life for those destroyed by terrorism, but to loss of liberty for those of us who must help heal those who have been hurt. Unfortunately, that is exactly what the FBI plans--it wants to limit and control the use of cryptography in the United States. To be perfectly honest, I would rather be safe from my government than safe from terrorists. A government with little or no respect for the privacy of its citizens scares me far more than any possible terrorist ring. To quote Benjamin Franklin, "They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."

I implore Louis Freeh, Director of the FBI, to adopt alternatives to abridge the rights of U.S. citizens to communicate with privacy.

I implore each and every person to:

  1. Get a copy of a good encryption program, such as Pretty Good Privacy
  2. Make a public key
  3. Distribute it as widely as possible
  4. Send a few encrypted messages to a few friends to see how the process works

Privacy/Crypto/FBI/NSA Information

If you have any others, or comments about this page, you can contact me by email at atman@ecst.csuchico.edu.

@Man, World-Class Data Snuggler / First Interskate Productions / atman@ecst.csuchico.edu

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