‘Flip-the-Switch Risk’ Is a Threat to All Internet Users
Not All Encryption is Created Equal
Encryption makes the internet work. It consists of a few elegant math equations that scramble data before being sent over the internet where prying eyes could otherwise intercept it, read it, and manipulate it. Without encryption our use of the internet would be limited to unimportant communication; anything valuable or interesting could and would be tampered with.
Encryption is the reason everything from financial transactions to state secrets get whipped around the internet nearly instantaneously— unlocking untold amounts of innovation, wealth, and prosperity as a result.
But not all encryption is created equal. Some forms of encryption expose the communications of internet users to private companies and others those companies choose to share your data with.
A lot of technology companies claim to have products that are “end-to-end encrypted”. This is often misleading. For example, as recently as March Zoom claimed in their security white paper that hosts could “enable an end-to-end encrypted meeting” with the click of a button. After backlash, Zoom quietly changed the language in their white paper to avoid using the term “end-to-end encrypted”.
