Friday, May 22, 2015

Apple Blossoms



7 comments:

  1. I think Howard wouldn't mind if Bernie were first today. And I hope the weather is good for his announcement. (I can't help but think of the preacher several years back who was imploring God to send the congregation a sign, whereupon a lightning bold hit the church's steeple and set it on fire!

    Easy-peasy court appearance today. Once again I was impressed by how calm and laid back murder trials usually are--nothing like a driving under the influence case. The judges and attorneys seem to actively work together to make as sure as they can that nothing goes wrong or goes undone, so there will (if possible) be no reason for a mistrial or remand. Zero theatrics.

    I have started using Proton Mail for communications with attorney clients. It works through web browsers rather than e-mail clients (e.g. Apple Mail), because the browsers have more advanced and more frequently updated security features. But I can send end-to-end encrypted e-mails which I can set to self-destruct after a given length of time, and the recipients needn't be signed up for Proton Mail. They do need a decryption password, which I thought I would have to send them by regular e-mail until I realized I could use their case numbers, which they would already know. It's real smooth.

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    1. Basic Proton Mail is free, although since it is still in development enrollment is speeded up by sending them some love. The NSA shouldn't be able to decrypt the messages, and even if they could get the Swiss courts to force the operators to hand over the servers, it would do them no good at all. The administrators have absolutely no way to decrypt the messages or to trace them (no meta data are used, much less saved).

      --Alan

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    2. I'm a bit confused by the way you draw a distinction between Proton Mail and an email client. An email client (e.g., Outlook) downloads your email from the web site of your email service provider (e.g., att.net). I could read my email directly on the att.net web site if I chose to -- and in fact am mildly annoyed I have to go there to check my junk mail folder.

      I suspect your point is that Proton Mail, as an email service provider, has more advanced security and encryption features than other email service providers. Although I need a secure connection to access the att.net web site -- through either a browser or Outlook -- and as far as I know could send encrypted messages if I had encryption software on my computer.

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    3. Bill, it sounds to me like Alan's saying Proton Mail is strictly web based, no downloading as with Outlook involved at all. I personally prefer to download, but web based mail does have advantages I suppose...among them no trace on your computer. A really determined investigator might still be able to trace the e-mail trail, but it wouldn't be easy.

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    4. Hmmm. It seems to me the attorney would want some sort of permanent record. I would view an inability to create a permanent record as a serious deficiency. Unless, maybe, you're into serious spycraft.

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    5. I'm not sure how it works for other folks, but I use my Apple Mail client program on my desktop for e-mail (that gets downloaded to my desktop from the Eartlink e-mail server). When away from home I use the Earthlink web mail, which by default leaves the messages on that server unless I delete them. That way I only have to look in one place to find e-mails I have downloaded. My Apple Mail is not up to date because I see no reason to "upgrade" my Mac operating system. Here is a list:

      Current Proton Mail compatible browsers [Click]

      Attorneys usually prefer telephone calls for initial discussion of cases, because e-mails may be legally discoverable. But not if they have perished! Notes taken of telephone calls (and ephemeral e-mails) are attorney work product, and not discoverable.

      No e-mail trail with Proton Mail--IP addresses are not recorded, and since it is free there are no billing records. The operators of the servers cannot decrypt the messages, even if they remain stored on the servers.

      TED presentation re Proton Mail [Click]

      To bed soon--off to the hospital early in the AM.

      --Alan

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  2. Is Bernie's campaign song "I'll Be With You In Apple Blossom Time?" 8)

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