How will ending encryption effect my life?
In: Technology
A few things that could immediately happen:
– identity theft
– financial account compromise
– loss of privacy
If you do things like online banking, encryption is what keeps things safe and secure. Otherwise, we’d be able to tell your account ID, password, and what transactions you were doing.
Identify theft is huge — whether it’s pretending to be you but secretly/subtly or taking over your online persona as a whole. Think someone taking over your Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, Instagram, twitch, discourse accounts and locking you out for good.
Loss of privacy will depend on your take. But just imagine ANYONE being able to read all your messages, regardless of who you talk to.
Essentially, ending encryption makes it significantly easier for *anyone* (hackers, law enforcement, you or me) to know what you’re doing online.
Imagine talking to someone (a bank teller, friend, loved one) in a room full of people. Encryption would be akin to you using a special language only you and the other person understands. Even if you were talking loudly, no one would be able to understand you, at least not easily.
If you were writing it down, encryption would be like putting your message (in that special language) in a sealed envelope and maybe also signing on the seals — even if that envelope passed multiple hands, the recipient would know if it had been altered or tampered with.
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