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Twitter Gives Up On Encrpyting Direct Messages

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  Twitter Gives Up On Encrpyting Direct Messages Austin Wolfe <aewolfe@gmail.com> - 2014-03-21 14:56 -0400
    Re: Twitter Gives Up On Encrpyting Direct Messages RS Wood <rsw@therandymon.com> - 2014-03-27 14:24 +0000
      Re: Twitter Gives Up On Encrpyting Direct Messages aewolfe@gmail.com - 2014-03-27 22:49 +0000

#1867 — Twitter Gives Up On Encrpyting Direct Messages

At least for now.

Twitter has shelved a project that would have made it more 
difficult for the government to intercept users’ private messages 
without a court order, sources tell The Verge, a sudden reversal 
for a company that has been ahead of the curve on privacy at a time 
of creeping surveillance.

Most of Twitter’s content is public, but there are a few channels 
that users consider private: personal information, protected 
accounts, and direct messages, which function like a limited email 
system.

In November, news leaked that Twitter had started work on 
encrypting direct messages in order to prevent unauthorized 
snooping by hackers or the state. But the project was dropped 
earlier this year without explanation, to the confusion of 
employees who were working on it and those in the internet security 
community who were aware of it.

http://www.theverge.com/2014/3/19/5523656/twitter-gives-up-on-
encrypting-direct-messages-at-least-for-now

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#2069

On 2014-03-21, Austin Wolfe <aewolfe@gmail.com> wrote:
> At least for now.
>
> Twitter has shelved a project that would have made it more 
> difficult for the government to intercept users’ private messages 
> without a court order, sources tell The Verge, a sudden reversal 
> for a company that has been ahead of the curve on privacy at a time 
> of creeping surveillance.

This pisses me off, because it seems awfully clear the issue is
political, not technical.  I'm no programmer but I'd be surprised if
turning on encryption for messaging required too many programmer-hours
of code to make happen.  So it's not time or energy that's in short
supply: it seems to be political will.

I was never a huge fan of Twitter, though I do use it.  But this
certainly doesn't push me in the direction of wanting to use it more.

Maybe it doesn't matter: I have very little that fits into 140
characters anyway, which is probably why I'm here.  I have always
deplored the fact that the 140 character limit absolutely squashes
educated conversation/debate.  The best you can hope to do is post a
shortened link with a pithy, blunt conclusion.  Boring!

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#2085

RS Wood <rsw@therandymon.com> wrote:
> On 2014-03-21, Austin Wolfe <aewolfe@gmail.com> wrote:
>> At least for now.
>>
>> Twitter has shelved a project that would have made it more 
>> difficult for the government to intercept users??? private messages 
>> without a court order, sources tell The Verge, a sudden reversal 
>> for a company that has been ahead of the curve on privacy at a time 
>> of creeping surveillance.
> 
> This pisses me off, because it seems awfully clear the issue is
> political, not technical.  I'm no programmer but I'd be surprised if
> turning on encryption for messaging required too many programmer-hours
> of code to make happen.  So it's not time or energy that's in short
> supply: it seems to be political will.
> 
> I was never a huge fan of Twitter, though I do use it.  But this
> certainly doesn't push me in the direction of wanting to use it more.
> 
> Maybe it doesn't matter: I have very little that fits into 140
> characters anyway, which is probably why I'm here.  I have always
> deplored the fact that the 140 character limit absolutely squashes
> educated conversation/debate.  The best you can hope to do is post a
> shortened link with a pithy, blunt conclusion.  Boring!
I believe that everything you stated is true. However, it is yet another 
communication method that is sent in the clear.

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