Semiprime Time July 4, 2008
Posted by Aleks Essex in : Voting Goals, Voting Policy , trackbackComputer scientist and election technology analyst Avi Rubin touched on some familiar themes in an interview yesterday:
There are cryptographic techniques that can be used to achieve software independence so that even if there’s a bug in the software, you’ll detect if there’s a problem. But those are not ready for prime time in my opinion.
Though I’m generally more optimistic about this, it’s a fair statement, especially since there hasn’t yet been any definitive event to have changed many minds. The question I put to you, fair reader, is how do we recognize when the time has come? It would seem, as in Rubin’s case, a conservative assessment of the situation would best allow one to avoid taking a premature position on the matter.
I suppose there are only two factors to take into account. One is a stable convergence of the technology with a consistent, set of security ideals. However this by itself may be too abstract to be appreciated by the general public.
Naturally for me as an engineer, the defining characteristic of a technology entering “prime time” is its first successful deployment in the field.
But perhaps we can never say for certain the time has come, only that now is as good a time as any.
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