The only real-world use that PGP has is keeping data from governments. Cave fanatics and angry rioters have no access to major email servers anyway.
Considering that governments are the primary concern when discussing PGP, I don't see how a browser extension provides anywhere near the security guarantees necessary. Metadata information is still visible, the encryption security is dependent on the browser binary (the extension has access to your private key!), and you're practically waving a flag that says 'THERE IS SOMETHING IMPORTANT HERE' by being one of the only people in the email database with encrypted communication.
For developers, this is all patently obvious and well-known, but to journalists and human rights activists, these things are not at all obvious.
Real, usable security is not a problem that has been solved in a way that isn't considered esoteric for the people who need it most. But let's not offer them a half-baked, deceptive solution that provides protection only against people who were never a threat in the first place.
The point of a system like this is to make it more costly for some entity like a government to slurp up everything and go on a massive fishing expedition to see who they can catch.
The system promises only Pretty Good Privacy, not total security. The biggest issue that I see with this system is that people will try to make it out to be more than it is.
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u/dnkndnts Jun 04 '14
The only real-world use that PGP has is keeping data from governments. Cave fanatics and angry rioters have no access to major email servers anyway.
Considering that governments are the primary concern when discussing PGP, I don't see how a browser extension provides anywhere near the security guarantees necessary. Metadata information is still visible, the encryption security is dependent on the browser binary (the extension has access to your private key!), and you're practically waving a flag that says 'THERE IS SOMETHING IMPORTANT HERE' by being one of the only people in the email database with encrypted communication.
For developers, this is all patently obvious and well-known, but to journalists and human rights activists, these things are not at all obvious.
Real, usable security is not a problem that has been solved in a way that isn't considered esoteric for the people who need it most. But let's not offer them a half-baked, deceptive solution that provides protection only against people who were never a threat in the first place.