That’s the reason we have to still use fax machines right?

I know there are ways to do encryption like PGP on your message directly or I think email sent over TLS? But that isn’t the default right and that’s why I can’t send a picture of my license to the insurance company directly over email?

You are viewing a single thread.
View all comments View context
31 points

therefore making them harder to intercept.

You mean far, far easier to intercept? You used to be able to just stick a coil around the wires.

The main issue is just a lot of countries governments’ don’t trust computers still. In Germany they insist on fax and post as it’s the only thing they can use as proof of signature in court, etc.

But it’s government laws and regulation that is behind. It’s not so much of a technical problem (although E2EE email standard would be nice!).

permalink
report
parent
reply
4 points

But it’s government laws and regulation that is behind. It’s not so much of a technical problem (although E2EE email standard would be nice!).

No. Government had nothing to do with it, these are separate issues. WhatsApp was never approved by the government, yet it’s widely used and it has E2E. OTOH, German government accepts email for lots of things. I know of some public sectors requiring email with PGP even.

The actual problem is that both email and PGP are really bad. This on my opinion describes it very well: https://latacora.micro.blog/2019/07/16/the-pgp-problem.html https://latacora.micro.blog/2020/02/19/stop-using-encrypted.html

permalink
report
parent
reply
3 points

On top of that these days most phone calls are routed over the internet at some point too.

permalink
report
parent
reply
1 point

Well, how do you proof an email has been delivered if you don’t get a confirmation? That’s the main problem when going to court.

permalink
report
parent
reply
1 point

You can’t without the logs from the recipient server.

permalink
report
parent
reply
2 points

Would be interesting to require read receipts to be on.

permalink
report
parent
reply
4 points

Yeah, this is a pain with faxes and letters too though - I had first-hand experience in Germany unfortunately.

permalink
report
parent
reply
30 points

“Harder to intercept” as in you have to go outside where the grass is to play around with the telephone wires, as opposed to typey-typey in your mom’s basement. Ain’t nobody got time for that

permalink
report
parent
reply
5 points

It’s the same though.

To intercept the email you need to be on a network that receives it (i.e. ISPs).

It being stored unencrypted is a totally different problem (and also for letters, faxes, etc.)

permalink
report
parent
reply

Ask Lemmy

!asklemmy@lemmy.world

Create post

A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions

Please don’t post about US Politics. If you need to do this, try !politicaldiscussion@lemmy.world


Rules: (interactive)


1) Be nice and; have fun

Doxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, and toxicity are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them


2) All posts must end with a '?'

This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?


3) No spam

Please do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.


4) NSFW is okay, within reason

Just remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either !asklemmyafterdark@lemmy.world or !asklemmynsfw@lemmynsfw.com. NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].


5) This is not a support community.

It is not a place for ‘how do I?’, type questions. If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email info@lemmy.world. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.


Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.

Partnered Communities:

Tech Support

No Stupid Questions

You Should Know

Reddit

Jokes

Ask Ouija


Logo design credit goes to: tubbadu


Community stats

  • 11K

    Monthly active users

  • 4.3K

    Posts

  • 233K

    Comments