Congress is combing the messages sent and received from diplomats as a part of the impeachment inquiry. And that makes you wonder – “just how private are my emails and texts?”
Information Security expert Dr. Chris Bronk is a Professor at University of Houston and he says neither is too safe from data collectors even though both Microsoft and Apple have installed some encryption on both.
“Encryption is a mathematical process by which we convert text into a format that is not readable.”“Encryption is a mathematical process by which we can turn text into something that is unreadable." Bronk warns that encryption is good but can have problems. He reminds you to limit the personal information on your communications so there's less for criminals to collect.
Apple uses encryption to protect trillions of online transactions every day on programs like iMessage, FaceTime, or Whatsapp. Microsoft offers encrypted Outlook for paying customers.
On the other hand, sometimes stealing texts and emails is a good thing. Bronk says law enforcement loves email and texts it and can demand a back door entrance into encrypted information.“Digital communications has largely revolutionized all sort of areas of investigation.”
For more information about encrypting your texts and emails, click this USA Today article.