The US secret service knows everything: can we forget about data security?
That was the title of yesterday’s Bayern2 talk of the town. Let me start with two citations from the Website of the broadcast on June, 10th, 2013:
With its spying program Internet-Prism, the US secret service has access to billions of internet data. Apple, Google and Facebook: they are all tapped into. So can we forget about data security?
The “talk of the town” asked about the role of national data security in this affair. It was also discussed if and how German and European politicians could counteract this spying program. … As a studio guest, they had invited the NDR terrorism expert Joachim Hagen, the computer scientist and author Constanze Kurz was apparently available through a video conference. … she pointed out that the politicians have to make sure we have data security and also that the users have to protect their data through data encryption. The honorary spokesperson of the Chaos Computer Club also told the audience what data are processed for which purpose. It is not just the secret services that are interested in the data pools. Behind the machine-driven selection and collection of data, there are also very real business interests.
Since the expert seemed to be quite open to conspiracy theories and the entire show was also oriented towards inviting people to fight for data security, I thought: why not call them?
So that is what I did. And I also got through on the line and told them my personal opinion. Here it is:
In practice, data security failed. There is no way out of this fact. And we should not fight for more data security, but for more transparency. And I find it outrageous that the citizens get more and more transparent while the federal and business powers continue working secretly.
I demanded in a conclusive way that, instead of calling for more data security, we should demand a symmetrical transparency.
Unfortunately, it seems that the “terrorism expert” did not quite understand what I had intended to say. Because he countered my statement with a short comment about what enterprises would say if they had to disclose all their business secrets.
I was quickly cut off the line. Well, the show was about protection of personal data, wasn’t it? Not about industrial or military secrets. And demanding a symmetrical transparency in this field should, basically, be a matter of course.
In my personal opinion, a transparency for all other (outside personal) data might actually be more beneficial than detrimental for the public good.
During the second half of this “talk of the day”, I listened to what another caller had to say. Like me, he demanded transparency. He actually gave an interesting reason for his demand. Here is roughly what he said:
To be sure, today, we in Germany are still quite well off. But what do you think would happen if dire times hit us? And if, like in Egypt or Turkey, people in Germany were to go onto the streets in masses and protest against the powers that be? What would the state do with all those data if that happened?
So far, so good.
RMD
(Translated by EG)
P.S.
Here are the data for the Talk of the day (Tagesgespräch):
In Bayern2 (Rundfunk) weekdays between 12.00 and 13.00 hours
Tel: 0800 – 94 95 95 5 free of charge from 11.00 hours
E-Mail: tagesgespraech@bayern2.de
Internet: www.br.de/tagesgespraech
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