Re: Reactions to reported NSA PRISM program

["Stockdale, Alan" <AStockdale () EDC ORG>]

The risk of dying or being injured as a result of terrorism in the US is tiny--nothing that warrants any sacrifice of 
privacy. The whole point of terrorism is low risk but spectacular events that create fear and irrational responses.

Are We Finally Thinking Sensibly About Terrorism?
https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2013/05/are_we_finally.html

The Politics of Security in a Democracy
https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2013/05/the_politics_of_3.html






Education Development Center, Inc. | Learning transforms lives.
edc.org
On 6/7/2013 9:45 AM, Flynn, Gary - flynngn wrote:
> <personal opinion>
>
> I think if anyone expects the government to foil terrorism plots, such
> monitoring is necessary....
>
> Our society is extremely vulnerable. If you cannot fix the
> vulnerabilities, you have to monitor and detect. Our freedom is our
> vulnerability so I don't think anyone wants to "fix" that. Some privacy
> may have to be sacrificed to preserve freedom....

--
Alan Stockdale, Ph.D.
Education Development Center
43 Foundry Avenue, Waltham, MA 02453-8313
Work: 617 618 2731
Fax: 617 969 3401
E-mail: astockdale () edc org
Web: http://www.edc.org/
________________________________________
From: The EDUCAUSE Security Constituent Group Listserv [SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU] On Behalf Of Kevin Halgren 
[kevin.halgren () WASHBURN EDU]
Sent: Friday, June 07, 2013 1:44 PM
To: SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU
Subject: Re: [SECURITY] Reactions to reported NSA PRISM program

While I appreciate the discussions, I really interested what, if any, response you hear from the broader campus 
community on the matter.  Sometimes with things like this I expect a riot, particularly from faculty or students and 
instead just get a "meh."

Do the educated masses even care?

My suggested response in the event anyone asks my CIO about this is as follows:
"We view this as a legal issue, not a technology or service provider issue.  There is nothing to indicate that anything 
unlawful has occurred even if all these allegations are true, nor could an internal system protect our users 
communications against lawful interception any more than Google or Microsoft.  We may not like what current law allows 
and can protest against it, but in the end we are obliged to obey these laws."
Kevin
On 6/7/2013 8:02 AM, Kevin Halgren wrote:
For those of you already using Google or Microsoft cloud e-mail solutions, I'll be curious to hear the reactions on 
your campuses to this news.

I believe the tech companies are telling the truth when they say they don't provide direct backdoor access into their 
systems and that the PRISM presentation may overstate the cooperation and capabilities of the system, however that 
doesn't preclude the government from abusing existing systems and capabilities e.g. those under CALEA lawful intercept 
capabilities.

Kevin