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UK Government Can Demand You Hand Over Encryption Keys
Journal written by iminplaya (723125) and posted by
Zonk
on Tue Oct 02, 2007 10:06 AM
from the shh-don't-give-them-ideas dept.
from the shh-don't-give-them-ideas dept.
iminplaya writes "The UK government can now demand that citizens hand over their data encryption keys - or face jailtime for obstructing justice. The law only applies to data on UK shores, and doesn't cover information transmitted via UK servers across the internet. 'The law also allows authorities to compel individuals targeted in such investigation to keep silent about their role in decrypting data ... The Home Office has steadfastly proclaimed that the law is aimed at catching terrorists, pedophiles, and hardened criminals--all parties which the UK government contends are rather adept at using encryption to cover up their activities.'"
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hmm (Score:4, Funny)
Zeitgeist says it is rich people wanting control. (Score:5, Insightful)
The issue, of course, is that systems are being put into place that can be used against citizens who protest. By using "terrorism" to create fear, those who want corruption and control are building systems that can be used to give them more control. Laws that required centuries to build are now being thrown away with as little awareness by citizens as can be designed.
The movie Zeitgeist explains it: The movie Zeitgeist (2007) [zeitgeistmovie.com] claims to explain it all, from an example of how people are controlled by myths, to how people who control government use fear to get more control, to why the U.S. government is pursuing a policy of hyper-inflation of the dollar now.
The movie is free and can be downloaded using a BitTorrent client, burned to a CD (a DVD is not necessary), and most modern DVD TV players will play it.
The Zeitgeist movie is very poor in some places, such as the opening sequences, and excellent in most places.
Don't expect emerging consciousness of very difficult subjects like those in the movie Zeitgeist to be free of error. The movie correctly says that "resurrection after 3 days" is part of many ancient myths, with an astrological background. However, the movie also speculates that Jesus Christ may never have existed. That is beside the point. In fact, whether Jesus Christ existed or not, many people in the world thought that his ideas and the ideas of his follower Paul of Tarsus were an improvement over what they had before. Even many people who do not claim to be part of a religion think that.
Those who want more information about how corrupters use fear can watch the free 3-Part BBC movie: The Power Of Nightmares: The Rise Of The Politics Of Fear (2004) [moviesfoundonline.com].
For those who don't know, and want to know what is happening and why, those movies are an excellent and entertaining way to start.
For people and their friends who invest in weapons and the manipulatable parts of the oil business, such as Cheney and the Bush family, controlling the government is how they make money and get more power. People from rich families often grow up believing that it is acceptable for them to kill people to get what they want. It is difficult, however, for the average person to believe that someone who already has a lot of money would kill others simply because he wants more money.
I am surprised at how much conflict of interest is allowed in the U.S. and U.K. governments. Why are weapons and oil investors like Cheney and Bush allowed to decide about starting wars in countries that have oil? (Afghanistan may not have oil, but oil investors want to build a pipeline through Afghanistan.)
Now the U.S. and U.K. governments are planning to start a war with Iran, another oil-rich country.
TrueCrypt has "plausible deniability. I wondered why TrueCrypt [truecrypt.org] encryption software has "plausible deniability". I guess that is why. We will soon all be needing it.
Parent
Re:Life without public key cryptography (Score:4, Interesting)
From: Anonymous Stranger (someone@outsidetheuk.com)
To: Patsy (someone-else@inside.co.uk)
CC: Law Enforcement HQ (help@police.co.uk)
Subject: Confession
Dear Patsy,
I was just approached by an acquaintance who says he committed a crime for you. Not believing it, I asked for proof. He showed me this picture:
(insert photo of apparent crime in progress)
I was horribly disturbed when I saw this. Apparently, according to him, it's just a screenshot from a video of the crime and him talking about all of the details of it for you. When I asked why he felt safe keeping a video around, he said it's encrypted and that only you and he have the keys. I managed to swipe his USB memory stick, and sure enough, there's some big encrypted file on it. I'm attaching it below for you. Since the police will certainly be interested in what it shows, I'd advise that you hand over your encryption key to them immediately.
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Been like this for years (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Been like this for years (Score:5, Informative)
It had setup the system so that there could never be any confidence that ALL the encryption keys have been turned over.
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Re:Been like this for years (Score:4, Insightful)
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Re:Been like this for years (Score:5, Interesting)
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Re:Been like this for years (Score:4, Informative)
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Not exactly news (Score:5, Interesting)
Hand the keys over (Score:4, Interesting)
Are we surprised that digital keys have the same requirement?
And as for all the other (physical) keys you can refuse and let the courts (and a jury) decide.
Re:Hand the keys over (Score:5, Insightful)
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Re:Hand the keys over (Score:5, Insightful)
But...
Unfortunately, as soon as computer technology is involved, even some otherwise highly intelligent people instinctively turn off their brain and may be convinced that the existence of an encrypted file on your hard drive is tantamount to being found in possession of a giant underground bunker complete with piranha tank, spy-bisecting laser and fluffy white cat.
Parent
Three Words (Score:5, Insightful)
This is exactly the sort of situation that hidden volumes were created for. The government asks you to hand over your encryption keys? "Well sure officer, here's the key to my encrypted volume, but there really isn't anything on there besides some harmless porn (or anything else that might be plausibly embarrassing enough to keep hidden away)" Of course, it's probably only a matter of time before someone decides to make it illegal to possess programs that can create any sort of hidden volume, but that's another issue.
So, lemme get this straight... (Score:5, Insightful)
a) Tell them to get bent, go to jail for a year as a symbol of government run rampant (face it, some "activist" will pick up his "cause")
or
b) Immediately hand over the key, which is then used to procure the evidence of his computer, putting him in jail for 20 years as an ACTUAL terrorist/pedophile.
That's not even getting into the situation if one is NOT an actual pedorist. Terrorphile?
Solution? (Score:5, Insightful)
Instead, you should establish an encrypted connection, use it to exchange private information, then destroy the keys after the connection is closed. SSH is one protocol that does this automatically. That way, although a wiretap can record the ciphertext, the authorities cannot retrieve the encryption keys because they no longer exist. Your democratic right to privacy is preserved.
I wonder if any instant messaging programs have implemented this? If so, do they consider the possibility of man-in-the-middle attacks as SSH does?
What if...? (Score:4, Interesting)
I don't have a problem handing the keys to the authorities provided they can give me a good reason they need them (I really don't enjoy handing out trade secrets, you know...), but what if I just simply and plainly cannot?
Dead-mans handle saves (Score:4, Interesting)
When you are asked for the keys, refuse until you are arrested and unable to save the keys from being revoked.
The revocation is the trigger that you have been asked.
Sam
How to screw someone (Score:4, Interesting)
2. Tip off the authorities to their "terrorist plans"
3. Watch them get five years for "refusing" to decrypt the "data"
The really evil part (Score:5, Insightful)
What if your password incriminates yourself? (Score:5, Interesting)
I was wondering how the court would rule if your password contained information that would incriminate you in a different crime.
For example, if your password was: "my_murder_victim_is_buried_under_my_patio" or "I_embezzeled_20million_into_account_123456789", wouldn't revealing the password violate your right against self-incrimination (at least in the US)?
Re:hidden volumes (Score:5, Informative)
This aspect of the law is routinely ignored on Slashdot to try and enhance the "evil" reputation of the law.
Parent
Re:Old News (Score:5, Insightful)
Since part of the law prohibits telling anyone that you have had to hand over the keys, how can you be sure about that ?
Parent
Re:Its very important that we all do this. (Score:5, Funny)
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Re:Its very important that we all do this. (Score:5, Interesting)
This law was passed 7 years ago, and the home office has been quietly waiting for the original outrage to die down to see if they could get away with actually using the powers they were granted before 9/11 or 7/7. Of *course* they'll only use it against terrorists and pedophiles. Nothing to fear citizen, sleep soundly in your bed, safe in the knowledge we're only imprisoning bad men. After all, only bad men use encryption then forget the password...
Of course, if you're a pedophile you're far better off taking the 2 years for failure to hand over your encrypted data, than to take the potentially decades in jail if you have incriminating photos and a sex offender offence that might well get you killed there. I don't think it'll be too long before the maximum sentence gets raised to be in line with the worst crime you might be assumed to have committed and hiding via encryption...
Parent
Re:Truecrypt (Score:5, Insightful)
The point is not that they don't know it is possible. The point is that it cannot be proven that there is a second encrypted volume within the first one.
This makes it plausible to deny that it exist at all. If store some sensitive information in the outer volume, like some very embarrassing but not illegal pornography you can make a claim that this was the sole purpose of the outer Truecrypt volume. The law enforcement agency will have a hard time getting a judge to order you hand over keys to a hidden volume they cannot prove exist.
Hidden volumes in Truecrypt got nothing at all to do with "security through obscurity", it's all about "plausible deniability". You can ask your friend in the police about that, if he has any experience with the security community at all he should be very well acquainted with this term.
Of course, if you admit or in other ways make it provable that there exist an inner volume then all bets are off
This will probably work in societies like USA and UK where the police have to follow certain procedures. In countries like Burma or China where they will just torture you until you confesses or dies, I'm not so sure about the value of this scheme.
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