>Margaret wrote:
>
>>Net result: if you get a phonecall, there's (now) no
>>way to verify that it's from the phone it claims to be,
>>and there's no way to keep the conversation from being
>>snooped.
>
>I never assumed there was. There's no thing as privacy, is there? No less
>than Sun CEO Scott McNally says so.
Well, McNeely was speaking about a different level of aggregation, I'm sure. I've not seen the quote. I wish I knew whether he's happy or - as he should be! - outraged by the problem. But then, for the wealthy, any problem is always smaller :-(
There is still written-communications privacy, if of no better order than the game/candle or turn-pumpkin sort. PGP can provide you that much. And if you are a government or a business -- but I repeat myself :-( --, there are still plenty devices and techniques that effectively guarantee absolute voice privacy, even over the public voice network.