Sponsor's Message

Yes, in the name of "the war against terror," the government still seems hell-bent on introducing laws that will force you, me, or even your aged grandmother to hand over the keys to what could be our greatest, most intimate, most private secrets.

In practical terms I don't have a problem with this, since I have nothing to hide and I've already offered the authorities full access to everything I'm doing which might be even remotely linked to the "war against terror."

However, there is a greater principle involved here -- the one of our right to privacy.

Surely every citizen has a right to keep some aspects of their lives to themselves -- free from the prying eyes of bureaucrats and those on a power-trip?

Of course the government can raise a strong argument to the effect that if/when they demand the keys to your secrets, they will be acting solely in the interests of the country and its people.

Such a claim would be fine -- if it weren't for the fact that those carrying out the data-raids are also human with all the weaknesses and curiosities that "humans" tend to have.

How long ago was it that we saw IRD staff being fired or sanctioned for disclosing "secret" information about taxpayers -- despite assurances and laws which, we were told, would ensure that such information remained private?

No, I'm afraid that no government will be able to offer me a the level of proof needed to gain my confidence that any "secrets" revealed under duress will remain "secret".

Hell, just look at the amount of "secret" information that gets leaked from within government's own ranks! If they can't keep their own secret information from being disclosed, what chance to hapless citizens have?

I'm sorry but if any government decides to hold a gun to my head over such a matter then they better be prepared to pull the trigger because I generally respond to threats by becoming even more obstinate than I usually am.

I doubt I'm alone in this either. It would not surprise me if a huge number of NZers started sending and saving large blocks of purely random data as a sign of civil disobedience, should such legislation be enacted.

How would anyone know whether that data was an encrypted message or just garbage?

It would be sheer folly for any government to ask any citizen (under threat of punishment) to hand over the keys to a block of meaningless bytes that had been created by a random-number generator.

But the government does have a problem here.

Just a decade or two ago, a locked safe or even an encoded message could be broken quite easily -- but these days, the average home computer user has the ability to use encryption strong enough to defeat even the most powerful supercomputer.

What is the solution?

Lighten-Up
Time for more of the craziest, most creative or cretinous content from cyberspace.

If the power supply of your computer suddenly burst into flames would you consider that to be a disaster? Well whoever took this picture would obviously consider it an "opportunity".

And here's a page that cleverly determines your IQ simply by the way you click on this link (don't be disappointed).

Here's another picture sent by a reader. He says that it's a kind of optical illusion and that if you stare at it long enough (it may take a few minutes) you will begin to see a waterfall. I'm damned if I can see it but take a look and see for yourself.

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