no more UK for me

[Tyler Durden]

The difference between an encryption key and the key to a locked drawer is
that the drawer may be smashed opn while the encrypted file might not be
smashable at all.

Again, one wonders if a truly deniable form of TOR-based encryption might be
possible. If I enter key number one, message one is retrieved untraceably from
the cloud. If I enter key number 2, message 2 is retrieved instead. The tough
part is that there needs to be a mixed middleware service layer inside the
cloud that can take the requests in an untraceable manner and go to the right
place to retrieve.

Or is there any easier way, given ISP records of customer activity?




> Date: Thu, 16 Oct 2008 16:26:56 +0100
> From: macavity at well.com
> To: eugen at leitl.org
> Subject: Re: no more UK for me
> CC: cypherpunks at al-qaeda.net
>
> So 28 days' detention without charge, more CCTV cams than the rest of
> the planet put together, stop-and-search without probable cause and
> .gov.uk collection of all telephone, email and web headers hadn't
> scared you away already? ;o)
>
> The UK has the tightest government control of anywhere in the west,
> and has had for a very long time.  It's just that the plutocracy has
> been in charge for so long (since 1649, really), and they've been
> fairly smart about it; control has been absorbed into the fabric of
> society without disrupting anyone [important] too much.
>
> There is most definitely simmering resentment amongst the populace
> here, but it's going to have to get a lot worse before anyone does
> anything about it.
>
> W
>
>
> 2008/10/16 Eugen Leitl <eugen at leitl.org>:
> > http://www.linuxworld.com.au/index.php/id;897277082;fp;;fpid;;pf;1
> >
> > UK appeals court rejects encryption key disclosure defense
> >
> > Defendants can't deny police an encryption key because of fears the data
it
> > unlocks will incriminate them, a British appeals court has ruled.
> >
> > Jeremy Kirk (IDG News Service) 15/10/2008 08:44:00
> >
> > Defendants can't deny police an encryption key because of fears the data
it
> > unlocks will incriminate them, a British appeals court has ruled.
> >
> > The case marked an interesting challenge to the UK's Regulation of
> > Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA), which in part compels someone served
under
> > the act to divulge an encryption key used to scramble data on a PC's hard
> > drive.
> >
> > Failure to do so could mean a two-year prison sentence or up to five years
if
> > the case involves national security.
> >
> > The appeals court heard a case in which two suspects refused to give up
> > encryption keys, arguing that disclosure was incompatible with the
privilege
> > against self incrimination.
> >
> > One of the suspects had been ordered not to move house without permission
> > under a terrorism-prevention act. The man defied the order, and he and
> > another man were arrested, according to the ruling from the England and
Wales
> > Court of Appeal Criminal Division.
> >
> > Police also seized encrypted material on a disc belonging to the first
man.
> > When the second man was arrested, police saw he had partially entered an
> > encryption key into a computer.
> >
> > In its ruling, the appeals court said an encryption key is no different
than
> > a physical key and exists separately from a person's will.
> >
> > "The key to the computer equipment is no different to the key to a locked
> > drawer," the court found. "The contents of the drawer exist independently
of
> > the suspect; so does the key to it. The contents may or may not be
> > incriminating: the key is neutral."
> >
> > The right against self incrimination is not without bounds, as suspects
also
> > can't refuse to give a DNA sample if properly compelled.
> >
> > RIPA, passed in 2000 by the U.K. Parliament, is intended to give police
new
> > powers to conduct covert surveillance and wiretap operations in respect
to
> > new communication technologies.
> >
> > The third part of RIPA concerning the disclosure of encryption keys came
into
> > force in October 2007. It was delayed since when RIPA was approved, law
> > enforcement wasn't seeing wide use of encryption. It was also one of the
more
> > controversial parts of RIPA, as critics said companies could be at risk
if
> > law enforcement mishandled their data.
> >
> > To obtain a key, a so-called "Section 49" request must first be approved
by a
> > judicial authority, chief of police, the customs and excise commissioner
or a
> > person ranking higher than a brigadier or equivalent. Authorities can
also
> > mandate that recipients of a Section 49 request not tell anyone except
their
> > lawyer that they have received it.

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