Snowdon is a dummy

But that is just it, congress gave NSA the authority to do what they are doing

I am trying to understand you so is buying a home safe at Sears to keep papers in over the top?

Is paying a few dollars a month to have a safe deposit box at your bank over the top?

Is getting top of the line locks on your doors being over the top?

If any of those steps is not over the top in your opinion why is encrypting your hard drives to offer similar protections to the same information in digit form being over the top?

What is or is not being over the top in your view.

It just is.

Quote:

It just is.

So it is an emotional reaction to the very idea of encrypting?

Well I guess I can understand the emotional aspect of the subject even if there are good and very solid logical reasons in my opinion to encrypted computers there is also an emotional aspect of having that protection that go beyond the threat models.

You could not pay me enough to ever own a computer that did not have that level of protection on it.

Wrote my own encrypted programs for the TI99 computer and have some of the earlier IBM encrypted programs dating back to windows 3.1.

Open question to the folks who think that the efforts of the NSA are worth the cost (keeping in mind that the utility of mass meta-data collection is being questioned by some members of Congress - as in it hasn't prevented attacks that "other methods" wouldn't/didn't prevent).

The budget of the NSA is classified (of course it is), but it's reasonably estimated to be about 10 Billion dollars (with a B). With the size of our deficits and the condition of our domestic social programs and infrastructure, is this really where you'd choose to have your $10B in tax money spent? Especially, as CI posted above, the risk of being killed by a terrorist is less than the risk of being killed by a toddler - not BECAUSE of these programs, but in spite of them.

I think this is one of the aspects that pisses me off the most. Not only is the federal government violating the 4th and 1st amendments left and right, not only are they sweeping meta-data from just about everyone on the planet, not only are US-based businesses losing BILLIONS of dollars over this, but we're paying for it all through our tax revenues.

I'm curious how many of our congressional boy and girls (and staffers) have stock in companies that provide services (outsourced) to the NSA.

IN MY OPINION...although I understand and acknowledge the fears that cause you to do this, it seems a bit paranoidal to me.

I'm glad you think I'm having fun.

I'm one pissed off human being and that isn't how I define fun.

You didn't answer my question. Given the estimate that the NSA has an annual $10B budget and the condition of our domestic programs and infrastructure, is this how you (as a supporter of all of the above, I assume) would have your tax dollars spent?

what is worth encrypting? to begin with - anything financial you touch online

You didn't answer my question. Given the estimate that the NSA has an annual $10B budget and the condition of our domestic programs and infrastructure, is this how you (as a supporter of all of the above, I assume) would have your tax dollars spent?

JPB wrote:

You didn't answer my question. Given the estimate that the NSA has an annual $10B budget and the condition of our domestic programs and infrastructure, is this how you (as a supporter of all of the above, I assume) would have your tax dollars spent?

To expand on your thought: There is a branch of behavioral scientists and economists who study people's willingness to spend money for safety. They find that people trade money for small risks to their lives as if their lives were worth $2--5 million to them. (The statistical data is noisy, but does yield an order of magnitude.) By this standard, the NSA would have to prevent roughly one 9/11 every year to be worth its present cost. I wonder if any of our NSA apologists here believe the agency is that good.