Trust Networks

Someone on Stack Exchange seems to think the iMessage encryption is only for messages in transit and not true end to end encryption. Whereas comments on Hacker News seem to suggest Apple may be in a position to provide true end to end encryption. In the mean time I’m sure some people will be trying hard to punch holes in the protocol.

The real issue is that information has the power to change lives and disinformation can lead us all astray. Most people aren’t in a position to understand the technology they use from the ground up. Thus we are left with a hodgepodge of trust networks often formed and reinforced by social interaction. We are all vulnerable when we are kept in the dark.

Digital networks are now more than ever being mediated by technologies and corporations online. We are all operating in a world we can’t really understand except at the very surface layer. This begs the question that if we can’t know what’s happens beyond our reach how do we define trust? We can’t exist in a vacuum and are all defined by our interactions. Do we really want to delegate those interactions to intermediaries who aren’t open themselves? What networks do you trust and can any infrastructure really be secure, unbiased and neutral? Without access to the source code we can’t really ever be sure.