More than a salutary warning from Edward Snowden

Edward Snowden sat down with the Editor of The Guardian in Moscow the other day - and his warnings bear being heard, loud and clear, and acted upon.

"The NSA whistleblower, Edward Snowden, has urged lawyers, journalists, doctors, accountants, priests and others with a duty to protect confidentiality to upgrade security in the wake of the spy surveillance revelations.

Snowden said professionals were failing in their obligations to their clients, sources, patients and parishioners in what he described as a new and challenging world.

"What last year's revelations showed us was irrefutable evidence that unencrypted communications on the internet are no longer safe. Any communications should be encrypted by default," he said.

The response of professional bodies has so far been patchy.

A minister at the Home Office in London, James Brokenshire, said during a Commons debate about a new surveillance bill on Tuesday that a code of practice to protect legal professional privilege and others requiring professional secrecy was under review.

Snowden's plea for the professions to tighten security came during an extensive and revealing interview with the Guardian in Moscow.".....

Go here to see the video of the interview.

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