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Re: [Linphone-users] PSTN providers that support encryption


From: Jack Dodds
Subject: Re: [Linphone-users] PSTN providers that support encryption
Date: Tue, 07 Jul 2015 21:59:10 -0400
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Hello J. G. Miller,

Of course all the problems that you identify are real and I am well
aware of them.  The entire subject is both fascinating and important. 
It's perhaps a bit off topic in this forum which is specifically about
Linphone, so let me explain how I see it very concisely.

If interception of telephone calls is technically easy, it does not
matter how many laws are enacted to prevent it.  Those who don't care
about the law, or believe that their mission places them above it, will
do it.

If interception of telephone calls is technically difficult, but
entirely legal, people who can command substantial resources will try to
intercept calls and will succeed in some percentage of cases (by
compromising endpoint security, finding bugs in encryption protocols,
exploiting mistakes made by their targets ... ).

The more technically difficult it is to intercept telephone calls, then
the greater the number of people who must put effort into the
interception, and the greater the probability that one of them will have
some scruples and stop the process or blow the whistle - IF interception
is against the law.

So if we want to avoid a dystopian society in which everyone behaves as
if their telephone calls can be intercepted, we need BOTH strong laws
AND strong encryption.

Jack


On 07/07/15 03:31 PM, J G Miller wrote:
> At 11:46h, on Monday, July 06, 2015,
> in message <address@hidden>,
> on the subject of "Re: [Linphone-users] PSTN providers that support 
> encryption", you wrote -
>
>> This creates an issue since there's little legal protection against wiretaps 
>> for international
>> calls into North America.
> What protection do you have against wiretaps in North America whether they 
> are done legally
> or not?
>
> How do you know that your call originating and terminating in North America 
> is not being
> routed/switched via another country where there is no legal protection 
> against wiretaps?
>
> Do you naively believe that security agencies and goverment employees in any 
> country
> always adhere to legal requirements?
>
> And how would you even know if your telephone call on the PSTN side of the 
> VOIP -> PSTN
> call had been intercepted?
>
> If you want to keep your conversation secret, you should not be using the 
> public telephone
> network no matter in which country you are making the call.
>
> All an encrypted call to a VOIP->PSTN gateway will assure you with is that 
> nobody in
> the Internet chain between you and the VOIP company can listen in, unless of 
> course they
> have already cracked the encryption method.
>
> _______________________________________________
> Linphone-users mailing list
> address@hidden
> https://lists.nongnu.org/mailman/listinfo/linphone-users
>


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