Shostack + Friends Blog

 

Encryption & Privacy Policy and Technology

A few tidbits in recent news.

The Open Technology Institute has an Open Letter to Law Enforcement in the U.S., UK, and Australia: Weak Encryption Puts Billions of Internet Users at Risk. (press release, letter.) I am pleased to be one of the signers.

In closely related news, nominations for the 2020 Caspar Bowden Award for Outstanding Research in Privacy Enhancing Technologies are open.

Lastly, the Port of Seattle is considering putting rules in place around facial recognition technology. The Identity Project has extensive documentation, and I generally concur with their recommendations. Additionally, as I read them, I realized that perhaps there's an open question of "what's the harm from a photograph. My comments to the Port Commission are a start at grappling with that question. (After I wrote that, the Port approved a set of guidelines, covered here for the use of facial recognition. I would still love your feedback on how to think about the harm from a photograph.)