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Now, I’d like to ask people in the room, please raise your…

“Now, I’d like to ask people in the room, please raise your hand if you have not broken a law, any law, in the past month... That’s the kind of society I want to build. I want to guarantee — with physics and mathematics, not with laws — that we can give ourselves real privacy of personal…” quote by John Gilmore
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““Now, I’d like to ask people in the room, please raise your hand if you have not broken a law, any law, in the past month... That’s the kind of society I want to build. I want to guarantee — with physics and mathematics, not with laws — that we can give ourselves real privacy of personal communications.””

John Gilmore

About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Advocates privacy through cryptography rather than legal enforcement, emphasizing technical guarantees over laws.

In simple terms: Privacy should be secured by math, not law.

Key Takeaway

Build technical privacy safeguards.

Themes

privacy technology freedom law cryptography

Mood

concerned hopeful

Type

philosophical activist

When to use this quote

  • online communications
  • personal messaging
  • activist work
  • government monitoring
  • legal challenges

Key Concepts

cryptographic security digital rights surveillance resistance

Questions to Reflect On

  • How can we make strong encryption user‑friendly?
  • What are the limits of technical privacy?
A Different Perspective

Technical solutions may be inaccessible to non‑experts.

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