Interview with Bruce Schneier – Internationally Renowned Security Technologist

Bruce Schneier is an internationally renowned security technologist, called a “security guru” by The Economist.

He is the author of 12 books — including Liars and Outliers: Enabling the Trust Society Needs to Survive — as well as hundreds of articles, essays, and academic papers. His influential newsletter “Crypto-Gram” and his blog “Schneier on Security” are read by over 250,000 people. He has testified before Congress, is a frequent guest on television and radio, has served on several government committees, and is regularly quoted in the press.

Schneier is a fellow at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard Law School, a program fellow at the New America Foundation’s Open Technology Institute, a board member of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, an Advisory Board Member of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, and the Security Futurologist for BT — formerly British Telecom.

The Centre for Internet and Society (CIS) interviewed Bruce Schneier on the following questions:

1. Do you think India needs privacy legislation? Why/ Why not?

2. The majoity of India’s population lives below the line of poverty and barely has any Internet access. Is surveillance an elitist issue or should it concern the entire population in the country? Why/ Why not?

3. “I’m not a terrorist and I have nothing to hide…and thus surveillance can’t affect me personally.” Please comment.

4. Can free speech and privacy co-exist? What is the balance between privacy and freedom of expression?

5. Should people have the right to give up their right to privacy? Why/ Why not?

6. Should surveillance technologies be treated as traditional arms/weapons? Why/ Why not?

7. How can individuals protect their data (and themselves) from spyware, such as FinFisher?

8. How would you advise young people working in the surveillance industry?

VIDEO