Privacy on the Line: The Politics of Wiretapping and Encryption (MIT Press) by Whitfield Diffie (PDF)

Description

A penetrating and insightful study of privacy and security in telecommunications for a post-9/11, post-Patriot Act world.Telecommunication has never been perfectly secure. The Cold War culture of recording devices in telephone receivers and bugged embassy offices has been succeeded by a post-9/11 world of NSA wiretaps and demands for data retention. Although the 1990s battle for individual and commercial freedom to use cryptography was won, growth in the use of cryptography has been slow. Meanwhile, regulations requiring that the computer and communication industries build spying into their systems for government convenience have increased rapidly. The application of the 1994 Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act has expanded beyond the intent of Congress to apply to voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and other modern data services; attempts are being made to require ISPs to retain their data for years in case the government wants it; and data mining techniques developed for commercial marketing applications are being applied to widespread surveillance of the population.In Privacy on the Line, Whitfield Diffie and Susan Landau strip away the hype surrounding the policy debate over privacy to examine the national security, law enforcement, commercial, and civil liberties issues. They discuss the social function of privacy, how it underlies a democratic society, and what happens when it is lost. This updated and expanded edition revises their original―and prescient―discussions of both policy and technology in light of recent controversies over NSA spying and other government threats to communications privacy.

User’s Reviews

Editorial Reviews: Review A compact and intelligible guide to both the technical and the political issues. (Laurence A. Marschall The Sciences)A superb and timely introduction to a subject of enormous importance for scholars and citizens alike. (Choice)A well-researched and fascinating study. (Lawrence Rothstein Law and Politics Review)A wise, meticulously researched guide…. (London Review of Books)An incredibly comprehensive insight into the world of encryption and wiretaps, its political machinations, legal aspects, technologies, vulnerabilities, costs, limitations, and near-ubiquity. (G. Ernest Govea Security Management)Diffie and Landau deserve a large audience. Their lucid exposition adds valuable context to debates that for too long have been abstract. (Aziz Huq The American Prospect)Should be required reading for any computing student at any level. (Harold Thimbleby New Scientist)The book details numerous privacy issues, from personal privacy to national security…. A welcome surprise is that the book often reads like a Tom Clancy novel, interwoven as it is with episodes of domestic and international intrigue…. A timely and important book. (Ben Rothke Security Management)A superb and timely introduction to a subject of enormous importance for scholars and citizens alike. (Choice)[A] wise, meticulously researched guide… (London Review of Books) About the Author Whitfield Diffie, the inventor of public-key cryptography, is Visiting Professor at Royal Holloway College at the University of London.Susan Landau is Bridge Professor in the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and the School of Engineering, Department of Computer Science, at Tufts University. She has been a Senior Staff Privacy Analyst at Google, a Distinguished Engineer at Sun Microsystems, and a faculty member at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and Wesleyan University. Landau has been a Guggenheim fellow and a fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, and is a member of the Cybersecurity Hall of Fame, a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and a fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery.

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐I bought this book while taking a graduate course in Cryptography for a research paper on privacy and encryption. The field is rather fascinating and this book does an excellent job of providing the whys for some of the recent legislation. Anyone who is concerned about social networking Internet sites and Internet privacy should read this book. It uses no scare tactics or big brother is watching you drama, it is based on research and facts and presents the current state of affairs in privacy in a professional manner. Whitfield Diffie has been instrumental in helping to bring the field of Cryptanalysis from a linguist-based discipline to a mathematical one (Diffie-Hellman symmetric encryption key exchange or Alice & Bob exchanging secure messages examples) and this book is a logical extension of his craft. I found it chock full of information I did not know about how the concept of privacy has evolved and with it the evolving legislation. If you are aware of the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s lawsuits regarding the unethical (and for At&T unlawful) surveillance (capture of data) of American citizens and just about anyone who has a computer or a cell phone by the commiseration of NSA and At&T in San Francisco, CA, it would help if you read this book to understand how we reached these new heights in the invasion of personal privacy and introduce you to cryptography’s role in it. Highly recommend.

⭐After hearing the 2013 news reports about U.S. government surveillance, I wanted to get more informed on the issues.I had no idea that government surveillance has been as pervasive as it is, for as long as it has been. We learn here of privacy violations starting at least in the late 1800s in the form of overreaching census taking; numerous people were arrested for refusing to answer questions that they thought were none of the government’s business to be asking.The book takes us from there through about 2005 (published in 2007), with accounts of excessive wiretapping on Martin Luther King Jr., opening the mail of private citizens, increasingly extending the reach of authorized wiretapping, attempting to learn from the public library system who might be a spy based on checking out books about science, and more.This isn’t light reading, with an immense amount of information conveyed, but if you’re interested in learning more about privacy and surveillance in the United States, this is an excellent resource.

⭐Unfortunately the book starts with a bad impression by confusing Constitutional Amendment IV with Article IV. After getting over the mis-impression it’s clear that this is the best available on mechanics, history and politics of encryption.The book features an expert analysis of the features and advantages of public key encryption with the politics of key escrow. In it’s detailed examination of all aspects, the book considers cost/benefit analysis. Written in 1998, the book could stand updating for technology improvements and recent legislation.I’m convinced that encryption is not necessary for law enforcement. I’m not so sure about data security. The main issue is who should handle it. D&L point out that the NSA is winning its turf war with NIST. I doubt that Apple and Google can hold their ground for very long. I’m afraid that the issue might be moot as control will inevitable accrue to the government.This effort is as informative as possible in a book that is nearing 20 years old, a long time for the rate of today’s technology development. I would be the first to read a second edition. Note: Now I understand that a second edition was published in 2007. I guess I won’t be the first to read it.

⭐A good introduction to the politics in relation to cryptography and communication. As the book suggests it covers wiretappng and listening. However, the part related to cryptography does imply the reader would have some idea on the science of the subject and even the basics maths to understand why asymetris or symmetric crypto is secure. Since my back ground is maths and crypto and as a Royal Holloway Alumni this book for me is simply wonderful to read. Hail Diffie and Landau !!!

⭐this book claims that the NSA gave up wiretapping as a result of strong encryption when the opposite is true. rsa – MIT pals of diffie – recently received vast sums of cash to modify their algorithm. the surveillance state runs deeper than ever, and diffie is complicit.

⭐This updated edition of Diffie and Landau’s text is a must-have for anyone who is interested in how encryption and communicative privacy politics have developed in the US over the past century or so. Moving beyond just a ‘who did what’, the authors bring their considerable expertise in cryptography to bear in order to give the reader a strong understanding of the actual methods of securing digital transactions.If you are interested in American spy politics, or in encryption, or in how these two intersect in the American political arena, then this text is for you. The only disappointment is the relative lack of examination of how the US has operated internationally – there is very little mention of the OECD, nor of European data protection, to say nothing of APEC. Regardless, I’d highly recommend this book, especially if you want a firm base to begin comparative work in spy politics.

Keywords

Free Download Privacy on the Line: The Politics of Wiretapping and Encryption (MIT Press) in PDF format
Privacy on the Line: The Politics of Wiretapping and Encryption (MIT Press) PDF Free Download
Download Privacy on the Line: The Politics of Wiretapping and Encryption (MIT Press) 2042 PDF Free
Privacy on the Line: The Politics of Wiretapping and Encryption (MIT Press) 2042 PDF Free Download
Download Privacy on the Line: The Politics of Wiretapping and Encryption (MIT Press) PDF
Free Download Ebook Privacy on the Line: The Politics of Wiretapping and Encryption (MIT Press)