id: Гость   вход   регистрация
текущее время 00:39 29/03/2024
создать
просмотр
редакции
ссылки

Using the Telephone is Still the Second Safest Bet

Использование телефона всё ещё на втором месте по безопасности


If having an oral conversation is simply too great an inconvenience, the second most secure option — unless you've mastered how to encrypt your internet communications — is to use the phone. Even though your phone is statistically more likely to be wiretapped than your Internet communications, the phone is still less risky than unencrypted Internet communications.


This is true for several reasons. First and most important, your phone calls don't generate copies of your communications — once your call is over, the communication disappears forever. Internet communications, on the other hand and as discussed more below, generate copies that make it easier and more likely that someone can find out what you said. The risk of subpoenas to get these copies is much higher than the risk of a phone wiretap. Also, many more potential adversaries have or can gain access to your Internet traffic than to your phone lines.


Also, remember that "wire communications" — that is, voice communications — get more legal protection. If your voice communications are wiretapped in violation of the Wiretap Act, they won't be allowed as evidence; illegally wiretapped Internet communications may still end up in court. That means that investigators have less reason to avoid stretching the law when it comes to your electronic communications.


Speaking generally, just as phone conversations are a safer bet than unencrypted Internet communications, telephone conversations between landline telephones are a safer bet than telephone conversations that involve a cellular telephone.


Most obviously, conversations that involve cellular telephones are technically much easier to tap than your landline phone conversations — anyone who is in range of a cell phone's radio signal can listen in using a few hundred dollars worth of specialized cell phone interception equipment (for more discussion of the security threats posed to mobile devices like cell phones, see the article on mobile devices[создать]). If you are concerned that government agents may ignore the law and choose to intercept your phone conversations without a wiretap order, intercepting your cell phone's radio signals would be an effective way for them to secretly do so, particularly considering that they do not need to get the assistance of the cell phone provider and that their radio-based interception wouldn't leave any physical trace.


Cell phone conversations may also be more vulnerable legally — some courts have held that communications using cordless telephones are not protected by the Fourth Amendment, finding that there is no reasonable expectation of privacy in the radio signal sent between the cordless handset and the base station. The government may similarly consider the radio signal sent between your cell phone and the cell phone company's cell tower to be unprotected by the Fourth Amendment.


i

Privacy tip: Avoiding phone tap paranoia


Contrary to popular belief, modern phone wiretaps used by the government don't make any noise — no clicks, no hisses, no static, nothing. Don't worry that the government is monitoring you if you happen to hear some unexplained noise on the phone line. You wouldn't believe how often we're told, "I think I'm being wiretapped — I keep hearing clicks!"


Назад | Дальше