Edward Snowden appeared in a Q&A hosted by Amnesty International on the heels of 2nd anniversary marking the date the news first broke and the Senate’s approval of the USA Freedom Act.
Comments from Ken Simpson, CEO of MailChannels
“Two years after the news first broke, Edward Snowden’s revelations continue to remind businesses and consumers that they can no longer be complacent about security and privacy. Thanks to Snowden, we now are aware that we live in the age of interception. While new protocols limiting mass surveillance have been put into place, the public remains largely ill equipped to ensure the privacy and security of its private communications. Technology leaders first implicated in the leaks such as Facebook and Google have taken concrete steps to bring encryption to the masses, with the most recent example being Facebook’s adoption of PGP to ensure uses can trust messages from the social networking giant. But there is so much more that needs to be done by businesses of all kinds to ensure the types of threats to privacy and security identified by Snowden can be safely set aside.”
“Beyond the technology impact that has continued today, the recent expiry of the Patriot Act and rejection of amendments to the USA Freedom Bill by Mitch McConnell have confirmed the substantial impact that Edward Snowden has had on the course of American surveillance politics. Security experts have long doubted the efficiency of mass surveillance vs. old fashioned espionage and questioned whether the trade off of personal liberties is worth the slight advantage gained by having a large drag net in place. Thanks to Snowden, this knowledge is now in the hands of the people, whose demand for change has reached politicians and changed the course of history.”
By Ken Simpson, CEO MailChannels
Bio : Ken Simpson, founder and CEO of MailChannels Corporation. Ken first experienced the excitement and magic of software when his father brought home one of the first IBM PCs in 1980, teaching him how to write simple programs in BASIC. Since then, he has combined his passion for software with entrepreneurism, founding or participating as an early-stage employee in four successful startups in a broad range of technical areas including Voice-over-IP, Wireless Internet, and of course anti-spam. Ken has a First Class Honors degree in Computer Engineering from Simon Fraser University and Santa Clara University. At the Messaging Anti-Abuse Working Group (MAAWG), Ken splits his time running the botnet and web abuse sub-committees, as well as assisting in the work of the outbound abuse sub-committee.
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