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Is mobile SMS and email encryption legal? |
Fletche Joined: Sep 16, 2003 Posts: 53 PM, WWW
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Is mobile SMS and email encryption legal?
Will big brother legislate against the use of mobile email encryption?
My understanding of the law is that in many countries digital ID’s must be provided to law enforcers, upon threat of imprisonment.
What’s the situation concerning encrypting email, SMS and file sent from a mobile today and where do we think it will go?
Fletche
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cheese on beans on Joined: Jul 31, 2003 Posts: 49 PM, WWW
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u talkin aBouT spoofin l? |
Sutarkoen Joined: Aug 07, 2003 Posts: 110 From: BHX PM |
I believe (in the UK) it's covered by some new information act (RIP?) that on request of the code you must hand it over.
Si
"Whether or not you choose to contact me, you fail to demonstrate you have a free will, so follow your neurological programming and we'll see what happenens" |
peanut Joined: Mar 18, 2002 Posts: > 500 From: UK: Oxon and Leics PM |
That is true for the UK but Article One of the EU Directive on Human rights overides that. Shortly the European Union Constitution will wipe all that snooping out unless there is a terror threat. |
ainamrev Joined: May 23, 2003 Posts: > 500 From: Servanya - Russia PM, WWW
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yes that may be hapening. But at the moment how secure is a SMS message when sent who can access it besides the sender and reciver?
[addsig] |
haydnw Joined: May 28, 2003 Posts: 106 From: UK PM |
I know that service providers can read your text messages relatively easily - there was a case in the UK recently where a guy persuaded two friends at one of the service providers to spy on his ex-girlfriend's texts.
The other thing to note about UK legislation relating to encrypted documents is that yes, you are supposed to hand over the key etc if requested by the police. But it has been pointed out that if the stuff you have encrypted would get you a big sentance (eg records of robbing a bank, kiddie porn etc), then most people would rather not hand over the key. This offence carries a relatively short sentance compared with those above (something like 2 yrs?) so would seem like the favourable option! Which makes a mockery of the system really.
Just what I've heard anyway... |
scotsboyuk Joined: Jun 02, 2003 Posts: > 500 From: UK PM, WWW
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All forms of electronic data transmission have been intercepted and scanned for decades by the ECHELON system. There is a continuing case by certain EU nations to take steps against the ECHELON nations because they believe ECHELON has been used to provide those nations with industrial secrets and commercial advantages, instead of just monitoring security threats. In fact by including the word ECHELON so many times perhaps they are reading this very post.
"I may be drunk my dear woman, but in the morning I will be sober, and you will still be ugly." WSC |
Indianbwoy Joined: Nov 08, 2002 Posts: 108 From: London, UK PM |
Is this ECHELON something to do with the super computer that the dumb paranoid Americans have installed in a US of Azz military base in the UK that spies on every phone call made and probably other forms of communication?
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T68i, P800
Nokia 3650
[ This Message was edited by: Indianbwoy on 2003-09-29 02:35 ] |
Sutarkoen Joined: Aug 07, 2003 Posts: 110 From: BHX PM |
Just do a search on google for "Project Echelon"
A lot of it is claptram imho. Read the one about the satellites reading radar signals, it's quite close to the origin
Si
"Whether or not you choose to contact me, you fail to demonstrate you have a free will, so follow your neurological programming and we'll see what happenens" |
scotsboyuk Joined: Jun 02, 2003 Posts: > 500 From: UK PM, WWW
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ECHELON is fact, not made up. It is a joint project between the old Dominions and the UK and USA. That is the USA, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
The project does indeed involve listening into telephone calls, but that isn't even touching on what ECHELON does. As I already said, it intercepts ALL data transmissions that are routed through cables, satellites, etc used by any of the above listed countries (which means almost all data transmisisons since these countries are pivotal points in world communications, especially the USA and UK).
Although this does sound fanciful and somewhat Star Treky, it is actually happening. They do indeed use a series of supercomputers to scan data transmisisons for keywords and phrases. Any transmissions registering on these computers are further checked by the computers to ascertain their level of interest. A human analysis only comes into play if the computers decide that a transmission is of significant interest.
ECHELON is one of the reasons that terrorists don't like suing electronic means of communication.
"I may be drunk my dear woman, but in the morning I will be sober, and you will still be ugly." WSC |
solotk Joined: Oct 07, 2003 Posts: 1 PM, WWW
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Fortress SMS encrypts text messages between handsets. The message remains encrypted from sending to receiving, and can't be read enroute
http://www.fortressmail.net/fortress_sms.htm |
scotsboyuk Joined: Jun 02, 2003 Posts: > 500 From: UK PM, WWW
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Ha ha ha ha, that's what they want you to think. But we thinkinG that will think that they don't think that, of course they will have thought of us thinking that they think that, but we will of course be thinking that they thought we were thinking that they thought we were thinking that we thought that they were thinking that .... la la la la
"I may be drunk my dear woman, but in the morning I will be sober, and you will still be ugly." WSC |
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