[Chapter-delegates] Our German colleagues on "national Internets"

Marcin Cieslak saper at saper.info
Mon Nov 4 00:52:27 PST 2013


On Sat, 2 Nov 2013, Gary W Kenward wrote:

> "Selling to people that their data is safe
> because it is kept inside some borders
> is wrong - If it is said by governments
> you can be sure that these governments
> look into your data more intensely as ever
> before"
>
> I'm not sure what you are proposing
> here. The premise, in democratic nations
> at least, is that the government acts to
> protect its citizens. If you do not trust
> your government to act appropriately, then
> regulations regarding traffic routing are
> the least of your problems.
> 
> If you don't trust your government to
> properly balance personal privacy and
> security against national security, then
> you need a new
> government. Technology is not going to stop
> a rogue government from eavesdropping.

It is currently difficult to determine which and how a government
can be trusted; a trusted element is the system is the one which
is allowed to breach security policy - it seems that such kind
of trust went too far in so-called democratic countries.

Assuming that Internet users are able to and should affect
the government ("you need a new government") is a very optimistic
assumption.  I believe that we have many Internet users in the world
that enjoy and exercise their freedom while living in countries
where they cannot seriously affect their own governance.

For that reason, sticking to technology measures, although
not perfect (and even sometimes naïve), is much more realistic
and easier to implement globally to me than "tell your
government to stop". 

Part of the beauty of the Internet is that I don't need
to ask anyone's permission, especially government's,
once technology is there.


Marcin Cieślak
Internet Society Poland



More information about the Chapter-delegates mailing list