In the Age of the Embarrassing Leak, Can We All Admit That Encryption is a Good Thing?: New at Reason

Illustrations of the benefits of encryption abound.

J.D. Tuccille writes:

Even the likes of surveillance-friendly presidential candidates might be thinking fond thoughts about the benefits of privacy and encryption after the events of recent days. It’s one thing to have your friends in business found out for turning people’s personal communications over to your friends in government. It’s quite more troubling when you’re Hillary Clinton and your own missives are hacked and reveal your strong belief in the value of telling the voting public one thing while firmly planning on doing another.

And it’s little consolation that America’s drunk uncle, Donald Trump, staggered through the headlines in the form of old recordings of his grope-y locker room shenanigans to briefly distract some public attention from such cynical musings. Those leaks are out there, and opposing candidates can’t always be counted on to provide such clickbait-y counterprogramming.

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