dangers of TCPA/palladium

[AARG!Anonymous]

Seth Schoen writes:

> There is
> a much larger conversation about trusted computing in general, which
> we ought to be having:
>
> What would make you want to enter sensitive information into a
> complicated device, built by people you don't know, which you can't
> take apart under a microscope?
>
> That device doesn't have to be a computer.

Kragen Sitaker has a .sig that puts the concern concisely:
: Perilous to all of us are the devices of an art deeper than we possess
: ourselves.
:        -- Gandalf the White [J.R.R. Tolkien, "The Two Towers", Bk 3, Ch. XI]

It's a good question, although in practice the answer is that, first,
we don't have much choice given the technology we have, and second,
that it lets you do incredibly useful things.

But it is good to keep in mind that you can't avoid trusting others.
After all, every time you drive a car, or take the train across a bridge,
or cross a busy street for that matter, you are trusting your life
to others.

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