Yesterday’s news of hushmail passing information to the US Government is alarming to most people who consider privacy important. We use encryption to protect our privacy against industrial spies, nosy intruders, and hackers; but most importantly, we use encryption to protect ourselves against governments, which are becoming more and more nosey.
Recently I saw a YouTube video about how the US government considers people who invoke the constitution terrorist suspects.Is the US government really this paranoid? And, if it is, that’s all the more reason to use encryption. But how terrifying it is to think that the US government has the power to subpoena encrypted documents from a Canadian company.
Here in China, it is especially important to use encryption, and proxies – but offline life feels safe and free from government intervention - more so then in America. The government here shuts down web pages (this page is only accessible by proxy from the Mainland,) reads emails and tracks thought criminals, but it also leaves poplular sites like the beijinger alone. When people ask me why I live here, I tell them I am freer then in America – as long as I don’t go around shouting Falungong or democracy, nobody cares. And I think the government here is on the right track (on the daily life side, anyway)… people don’t feel the intrusion of police in their daily lives, fear isn’t everywhere…. The news broadcasts are mostly good news, can you imagine? People are making money with little government intervention. (The poor are still poor – but that’s how it is in the US too…) Healthcare is inexpensive….
I’m happy to report that while our team is based in Beijing (where life is free and easy, but the persecution of thought crime is a problem) our company is in Singapore – a country known for its harshness – but also a neutral country, a country where we will never be forced to divulge data to foreign governments. Besides – all our products keep your encryption keys on your systems – not ours, so we don’t have the ability to turn your data over anyway.
