Openness, it has been proven, goes hand in hand with democracy. In a recent New Yorker article, Tom Malinowski, the Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, is quoted as having said, “One of our articles of faith here—backed up by evidence, I hope—is that open societies are a bulwark against extremism…” Transparency has all sorts of positive repercussions—states with open and functioning democracies tend to do better economically, too. So, agreed, we need to be able to NOT allow all sorts of secret activities to go on within our government…and maybe in the private sector, too.

this whole digital security and encryption mess