Maroc - NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - 27/Oct 05:15

Encryption, privacy and public safety

BitDepth 1534 MARK LYNDERSAY ENCRYPTION IS a key pillar of digital society, occupying a delicate space between privacy and public safety. October 21 was Global Encryption Day and the Internet Society TT (ISOCTT), the CTU, the TT Computer Society and the local chapter of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) partnered to host a webinar discussion on the importance of this aspect of technology. Introducing the presentation, moderator Kevon Swift, chairman of ISOCTT, noted, "Encryption Day may sound like something for the tech-savvy, but in truth it's about all of us. Encryption is what keeps our messages private, our bank transactions secure and our digital lives, from health records to voice notes, protected from prying eyes." "In a world where nearly everything we do leaves a digital trace, encryption is less of an option and more of a civic safeguard. Around the world, governments are grappling with how to balance privacy with public safety. Globally, proposals to weaken encryption through back doors or exceptional access tend to open much larger doors. Doors that invite misuse." Sachin Ganpat, secretary of the TT chapter of the IEEE, offered an explanation of how encryption works. "You send messages. You send files. You shop. You bank. Each one of those actions transmits personal information," Ganpat said. "Without encryption, that data can be read, copied or changed in transit. Encryption makes that data unreadable to outsiders. That's sealing a letter that only the right person can open. "What does encryption look in everyday life? We see it in WhatsApp. We see it when you browse websites secured using HTTPS. That S stands for secure. The latest Wi-Fi uses WPA3 AES256 encryption, the strongest encryption that we have to secure our connections to the access point. Many laptops and computers have that today by default." Widespread use of hardware and transmission encryption was facilitated by the increasing speed of computer chips and solid state-disk access. MacOS using FileVault and Windows using BitLocker encrypt and decrypt data stored on a drive in real time without the perceptual overhead that limited widespread use of disk encryption on earlier devices. Ganpat explained that there are two primary models for encryption, symmetric and asymmetric. "In symmetric encryption, the plain text is run through an encryption key. That encryption algorithm requires the key to decrypt the plain text. In asymmetric encryption, the user and the algorithm produce two keys. One key is known as a public key and the other, a private key. Someone sending you a file or data will use your public key to encrypt it. Then you use your private key to decrypt it. If you're sending the file back to the person, you will use that person's public key to encrypt the file, and they will use their private key to decrypt it." The other test that encryption faces is legal, as governments argue that being able to access encrypted data through digital backdoors is in the public interest. This is an issue that Dr Raquel Gallo, a general counsel and head of legal at Brazil's Network Information Center (NIC) has been considering. "Often this effort is a false dichotomy between privacy and security, between encryption as a way to hide things and to protect criminals instead of a protection for us all," Gallo said, "These are legitimate concerns (by nation states) that they have to protect citizens, but there is a lack of awareness of the effects it might have. One example is luggage locks. These were very common in Brazil, but when you travel to the US, you need to use one that is TSA approved with a key that only Customs can open to check your luggage. Do you believe only Customs can have this key?" Rishi Maharaj, managing director of Privicy Advisory Services, pointed out that such concerns are largely theoretical in Trinidad and Tobago, leaving the country dramatically out of step with evolving standards in the EU and the wider Caribbean. "The Data Protection Act of 2011 has never been fully implemented and is limited mainly to the public sector, leaving private organisations largely outside its regulatory scope," Maharaj said. "The absence of a comprehensive, enforceable regime means citizens lack meaningful rights over their personal data, while organisations operate without clear obligations or oversight. This gap carries real consequences. "Unchecked data collection and unregulated surveillance also threaten freedom and democracy. When individuals know they are being monitored, they self-censor. Journalists and activists are particularly vulnerable to state or corporate surveillance justified under 'security' concerns. When data is weaponised, trust collapses, and civic participation declines – eroding the democratic fabric of our societies." Mark Lyndersay is the editor of technewstt.com. An expanded version of this column can be found there The post Encryption, privacy and public safety appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.