John McAfee: "Obama Administration Doesn't Know The Meaning Of Privacy"

Short Bytes: The maker of McAfee antivirus and privacy advocate John McAfee is again in the headlines. In his latest op-ed, he stresses upon the need of encryption, calling it a necessity. Bashing the governments who demand restrictions on encryption measures, he says that Obama administration lacks the real understanding of privacy.

John McAfee, the most colorful presidential candidate, is a part of Libertarian Party. The software pioneer sold the first commercial antivirus software in the 1980s. While he has had his own share of controversies in his past, he is now offering some words of wisdom to Mr. President.

In an op-ed that went online just yesterday, he talks about the governments that are working to convince the technology companies to open back door in their devices and not to develop unbreakable encryption. “I believe that the Obama administration has no real grasp of what “privacy” really means,” he said.

He writes about the multiple types of private communication methods that we use in our daily life. Calling the humans as “imperfect creatures, filled with greed, jealousy, anger, fear, envy and hatred – as well as grace, love hope and compassion”, he justifies the need of encrypted communication channels.

John McAfee compares talking to his wife sitting next to him and a person sitting thousands of miles away equal. He uses this argument to stress upon the need of a high degree of privacy.

“In this age of communications that span both distance and time, the only tool we have that approximates a “whisper” is encryption. When I cannot whisper in my wife’s ear or the ears of my business partners, and have to communicate electronically, then encryption is our tool to keep our secrets secret,” he writes.

Bashing the views of intelligence agencies and governments, he says that if encryption is banned and backdoors are put into the encrypted products, manny communication channels will be severed.

“Can you imagine, then, the impact on the health and vitality of our world’s commerce. And if encryption is thus controlled will we all require government’s approval to whisper into the ears of our wives, friends and business associates? Will whisper auditors be the next up and coming government occupation?” he says.

You read the complete op-ed by John McAfee on BI.

Also read: John McAfee Is Working To Make A Password Killer That “Unlocks” Everything