Telecommunication has never been perfectly secure. The Cold War culture of recording devices in telephone receivers and bugged embassy offices has been succeeded by a post-9/11 world of NSA wiretaps and demands for data retention. Although the 1990s battle for individual and commercial freedom to use cryptography was won, growth in the use of cryptography has been slow. Meanwhile, regulations r…
An introduction to the technology of contact tracing and its usefulness for public health, considering questions of efficacy, equity, and privacy. Contact tracing is key to containing and controlling the spread of a virus in a pandemic. South Korea, China, and Singapore were among the few countries that quickly employed contact tracing after the emergence of COVID-19; the United States did not.…
In this book, the author argues that in embarking on an unprecedented effort to build surveillance capabilities deeply into communications infrastructure, the U.S. government is opting for short-term security and creating dangerous long-term risks. Landau describes what makes communications security hard, warrantless wiretapping and the role of electronic surveillance in the war on terror, the …