UK intelligence recycles “think of the children” argument for borking encryption
There is nothing dumb about these people. It&#x27;s important to understand the underlying belief that drives stupid encryption policy though. They interpret a limit on their omniscience as a limit on their sovereignty. If I could summarize the way people I&#x27;ve met in government moralize policies like these it&#x27;s, &quot;Leviathan, c&#x27;est moi.&quot;<p>Consequently, I don&#x27;t know that they are persuaded by principle or reason. They understand power, but that&#x27;s about it. The main thing that comes out of laws that sabotage encryption is they shift the burden of proof of innocence onto the accused, because if there are encrypted files involved, there is no legal presumption of innocence.<p>This is the most serious crux of the issue: anti-encryption laws violate the presumption of innocence that underpins the western legal system, and that&#x27;s what makes them so desirable to certain establishments. Encryption isn&#x27;t about hiding anything, it&#x27;s about whether there is a physical&#x2F;logical limit to the discretion of the state, and whether the presumption of innocence of the accused is an inalienable right or just a convention.