Re: [Cfrg] Requesting removal of CFRG co-chair

[Daniel Kahn Gillmor <[e-mail]>]

On 12/20/2013 11:01 AM, Trevor Perrin wrote:
> I'd like to request the removal of Kevin Igoe from CFRG co-chair.

Regardless of the conclusions that anyone comes to about Dragonfly
itself, I agree with Trevor that Kevin M. Igoe, as an employee of the
NSA, should not remain in the role of CFRG co-chair.

While the NSA clearly has a wealth of cryptographic knowledge and
experience that would be useful for the CFRG, the NSA is apparently
engaged in a series of attempts to weaken cryptographic standards and
tools in ways that would facilitate pervasive surveillance of
communication on the Internet.

The IETF's public position in favor of privacy and security rightly
identifies pervasive surveillance on the Internet as a serious problem:

https://www.ietf.org/media/2013-11-07-internet-privacy-and-security.html

The documents Trevor points to (and others from similar stories)
indicate that the NSA is an organization at odds with the goals of the IETF.

While I want the IETF to continue welcoming technical insight and
discussion from everyone, I do not think it is appropriate for anyone
from the NSA to be in a position of coordination or leadership.

----

Kevin, the responsible action for anyone in your position is to
acknowledge the conflict of interest, and step down promptly from the
position of Co-Chair of the CFRG.

If you happen to also subscribe to the broad consensus described in the
IETF's recent announcement -- that is, if you care about privacy and
security on the Internet -- then you should also reveal any NSA activity
you know about that attempts to subvert or weaken the cryptographic
underpinnings of IETF protocols.

Regards,

	--dkg