[Gllug] Alternatives to googlemail

[Steve Parker]

On 29/05/11 11:06, Daniel Mang wrote:
> I am looking into the possibility of finally transferring my email
> away from google (for some reasons see
> http://www.google-watch.org/gmail.html).
IANAL, and I certainly don't know US law, but the Regulation of 
Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) here in the UK gives the UK government 
authority to read your email, and to force you to decrypt your encrypted 
email for them on demand, so a valid question to start with, is what are 
you trying to achieve? Email is inherently insecure.

Further; how do you define "your email"? This message will probably land 
in your inbox, but it is not an email from me to you, but from me to a 
mailing list. If I email you directly, is that "your email" or "my 
email"? Do I have the right to publish all emails sent between you and 
I, or do you have the right to insist that they be kept private?

These are not technological questions, these are legal and societal 
questions. The enforcement may be technical, but it is for society to 
work out what this all means. Websites like Facebook will bring such 
discussions forwards, but now that email has existed in some form for 
around 3 decades, even the western world alone has no solid legal 
definitions of how this can and cannot be used and authenticated.

This is indirectly related to Moore's Law, but technology is advancing 
much faster than society can keep up with it. Society is changing faster 
than the law can keep up with that. In the meantime, it probably makes 
sense to encrypt anything that may be considered sensitive, but that's 
when we get onto the dodgy ground of "if you hide it, it means you have 
something to hide" which is not necessarily true.

Steve
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