INST 346
Technologies Infrastructure and Applications
Fall 2017
Assignment H6

Answer the following questions:

1. Use the statistics presented in the readings to calculate the probability that a message between two random people will be collected. To do this, first use the number of people that have been reported to be used and the number of Internet users in the entire world to calculate the probability that one of the two people will be the target of collection. State where you found each of those two values (the number of people targeted, and the number of Internet users in the world). Then multiply this by two to account for the fact that there are two people communicating using that message, either of whom might be targeted. Then multiply that result by two again to account for the effect of "about" and "multi-communication transaction" collection (this is a very rough estimate; the true number might be larger or smaller). Finally, compare your computed probability to the probability of being struck by lightning in a year, and to the probability of being killed in a motor vehicle accident (in the USA) in a year. State the sources of your estimates of each of these two risks. Make your comparison explicit by stating whether the chance of having your communication intercepted and stored (as you have computed it above) is larger or smaller than each of the other two risks.
2. One way in which you might seek to protect your privacy would be to encrypt your communications (e.g., using SSL or TLS). Can you completely prevent "upstream" collection under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act by using encryption? By "completely prevent" I mean preventing any information about your communication (such as the addresses of the communicating parties and when the communication occurred) from being intercepted, stored and later searched. Explain why or why not, presenting the necessary technical details to support your answer.
3. Finally, use the answers to both of the preceding questions, together with other points that you think are germane, to explain why civil liberties advocates might rationally object to collection of Internet communications under section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. In your answer, you should recognize that that protections for privacy in the USA are not absolute, and that privacy interests must therefore be balanced against other imperatives. An answer that any surveillance, however minimal, is too great would thus not be sufficient as a rational basis. Instead, your answer must articulate the balance of interests that civil liberties advocates might rationally seek to draw.