{"id":12744,"date":"2018-10-08T13:58:18","date_gmt":"2018-10-08T18:58:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/?p=12744"},"modified":"2025-03-12T11:26:15","modified_gmt":"2025-03-12T16:26:15","slug":"just-encryption","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/just-encryption\/","title":{"rendered":"Just Encryption: Introduction"},"content":{"rendered":"

In honor of National Cyber Security Awareness Month, I'm launching a series of posts on the subject of encryption in service of social justice.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"
Detail from \"Encryption Made Easy<\/a>\" (Bart Everson, 2016)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

I've long been fascinated with encryption. As a kid, I thought codes were cool. As an adult, I see the value encryption offers for keeping my personal data secure.<\/p>\n

But what, if anything, does encryption have to do with social justice?<\/p>\n

Plenty.<\/p>\n

I got my first inkling in 2016, just after the election of Donald Trump to the highest office in the land. Under the prior administration, the apparatus of the surveillance state was developed to levels previously unimaginable. Obama handed that system to Trump.<\/p>\n

Of course, if you're not concerned about our own government spying on us, perhaps you're concerned about foreign powers. There's no denying that international cyberwarfare is real. There are also hackers and straight-up cyber criminals. Not to mention those big corporations.<\/p>\n

Whoever's doing the snooping, the harm is felt disproportionately by marginalized communities \u2014 as is typically the case when power relations are manifestly unequal.<\/p>\n

Rights must be understood and exercised in order to afford us any protection. That holds as true for privacy rights in the digital realm as it did in the analog era of the civil rights movement.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, scholars have a special interest in freedom of inquiry, germane to all those working in the field of education.\u00a0Educating on these issues is aligned with Xavier's mission, and it's vitally important that our faculty and staff understand what's at stake.<\/p>\n

As noted in a recent United Nations report<\/a>, encryption is emerging as a keystone for human rights in the 21st century:<\/p>\n

Encryption and anonymity, today's leading vehicles for online security, provide individuals with a means to protect their privacy, empowering them to browse, read, develop and share opinions and information without interference and enabling journalists, civil society organizations, members of ethnic or religious groups, those persecuted because of their sexual orientation or gender identity, activists, scholars, artists and others to exercise the rights to freedom of opinion and expression.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Encryption is simply the practice of putting your data into a secret code so other people can't read it. It's an important tool for maintaining privacy and security online. Before the 2016 election, writing for TechCrunch<\/a>, Steven Renderos and Mark Tseng Putterman observed that \"for activists and people of color, strong encryption is essential.\"<\/p>\n

In the days and weeks ahead, I'll be publishing a series of simple tips to help you get started using encryption more frequently. I'm far from expert myself, so I'll be learning as I go. If you have any questions or suggestions, don't hesitate to let me know.<\/p>\n

Next up: Using Signal for secure text messaging.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In honor of National Cyber Security Awareness Month, I'm launching a series of posts on the subject of encryption in service of social justice.   I've long been fascinated with encryption. As a kid, I thought codes were cool. As an adult, I see the value encryption offers for keeping my personal data secure. But ...continue reading \"Just Encryption: Introduction\"<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12865,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[437],"tags":[399],"class_list":{"0":"post-12744","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-security-encryption","8":"tag-encryption","9":"h-entry","10":"hentry","11":"h-as-article"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/cyber-security-3400657.jpg?fit=5000%2C1699&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p82MQk-3jy","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":12867,"url":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/encrypt-sms\/","url_meta":{"origin":12744,"position":0},"title":"Just Encryption Part 2: Text Messages","author":"Bart Everson","date":"January 17, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Are you encrypting your texts? You should be \u2014 now more than ever. Before the 2016 election, writing for TechCrunch, Steven Renderos and Mark Tseng Putterman observed that \"for activists and people of color, strong encryption is essential.\" Here in New Orleans, in the interim between the election and the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Security & Encryption"","block_context":{"text":"Security & Encryption","link":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/topic\/tech-tips-a-la-carte\/security-encryption\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/cyber-security-3400657.jpg?fit=1200%2C408&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/cyber-security-3400657.jpg?fit=1200%2C408&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/cyber-security-3400657.jpg?fit=1200%2C408&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/cyber-security-3400657.jpg?fit=1200%2C408&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/cyber-security-3400657.jpg?fit=1200%2C408&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":17669,"url":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/lets-go-crypto\/","url_meta":{"origin":12744,"position":1},"title":"Let’s Go Crypto?","author":"Bart Everson","date":"October 29, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Photo by Thought Catalog on Pexels.com The XULA Entrepreneurship Institute is interested in gauging the Xavier communities' attitude and general knowledge regarding cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. Please take a moment to fill out their survey and they will be sending you some crypto of your own! Three easy steps to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Security & Encryption"","block_context":{"text":"Security & Encryption","link":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/topic\/tech-tips-a-la-carte\/security-encryption\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"woman holding two coins","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/pexels-photo-2228570.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/pexels-photo-2228570.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/pexels-photo-2228570.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/pexels-photo-2228570.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/pexels-photo-2228570.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/pexels-photo-2228570.jpeg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":12900,"url":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/just-encryption-part-1-web-basics\/","url_meta":{"origin":12744,"position":2},"title":"Just Encryption Part 1: Web Basics","author":"Bart Everson","date":"October 29, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Every time you visit a website, information is flowing between your device and a server out there somewhere. In the early days of the internet, most all that information was transmitted \"in the clear,\" also known as \"cleartext,\" meaning unencrypted. Cleartext, if intercepted, can be easily read. That means a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Encryption\"","block_context":{"text":"Encryption","link":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/tag\/encryption\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"encrypt","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/c1.staticflickr.com\/4\/3890\/14392669095_066b2c9f96.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":10668,"url":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/encrypted\/","url_meta":{"origin":12744,"position":3},"title":"We’re Encrypted","author":"Bart Everson","date":"March 27, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"We have been taking steps to make the CAT+FD site more secure. Most recently, we started\u00a0serving all our content over a secure connection. From this point on, anytime you're visiting our site (including this blog) you may see \"https:\/\/\" at the beginning of the web address in your browser's location\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General Housekeeping"","block_context":{"text":"General Housekeeping","link":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/topic\/housekeeping\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"encrypt","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/c1.staticflickr.com\/4\/3890\/14392669095_066b2c9f96.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":8092,"url":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/why-hello-firefox-hello\/","url_meta":{"origin":12744,"position":4},"title":"Why Hello, Firefox Hello!","author":"Karen Nichols","date":"September 3, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"by Karen Nichols A few interested instructors and I are experimenting with various video conferencing apps and software now like Google + Hangouts, Microsoft Skype, Apple Facetime and the fairly new Firefox Hello.\u00a0 Firefox Hello has a very useful feature right off the bat.\u00a0 It doesn't require you to install\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Distance Education\"","block_context":{"text":"Distance Education","link":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/tag\/distance-education\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12428,"url":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/basic-needs-security-and-the-syllabus\/","url_meta":{"origin":12744,"position":5},"title":"Basic Needs Security and the Syllabus","author":"Karen Nichols","date":"August 3, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"When I read this article from Sara Goldrick-Rab \"Basic Needs Security and the Syllabus\" from August of last year, it really resonated with me, due to several projects I'm currently working on that have somehow converged--it is that time of year when faculty are asking for tips on creating their\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Faculty Development"","block_context":{"text":"Faculty Development","link":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/topic\/faculty-development\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"empty plate between fork and spoon","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hunger.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12744","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12744"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12744\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21281,"href":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12744\/revisions\/21281"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12865"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12744"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12744"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12744"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}