Sometimes, encryption isn’t enough

One of the advantages of using encrypted email, is that your message won’t trip some piece of mindless data mining software. Remember, a few years ago, when the FBI was running around investigating an Elementary School Teacher because profiling software picked her as a potential terrorist?

Well, using encryption may not be enough.

An article in PC Pro discusses plans in the UK to do profiling based on who you communicate with:

As with the original scheme, the actual content of the phone calls and messages won’t be recorded, just the dates, duration and location/IP address of messages sent.

From this information, they’ll pick the next set of Elementary School Teachers that need to be investigated for possible links to terrorists. It makes me wonder; how many of us are only a few degrees of separation away from someone under suspicion?

Sadly, encryption alone isn’t going to help you here. You’ll need encryption and anonymity.