Roundabout

Well, you know, it isn't just the nominal interest rate you need to consider, it is also the rate of inflation that exists in the country/currency you want to invest in. A year ago, Brazil banks were paying 14.5%, but the trouble was inflation was running at 16%, and then there is the cost of conversion back and forth. So far, I have yet to find any fiat currency that covers the actual rate of inflation.

Yeah, for sure. I guess we need to revisit the old Honeywell 'Ring' security idea. Of course user information needs to be protected. What government %*%*&*&%% would argue otherwise?

You know, there is such a chasm between the way Canadians relate to and expect their government to perform, and the way American's basically hide the silver. I know this is way off topic, but anyhow, I have a deep IT background and I am absolutely amazed to hear that so called encrypted data is 'in the open' for any period of time. Reminds me of a couple of years ago when your 'officials' opened a bonded letter that was being sent to me. Opened up everything, got access to my card, my expiry date, my CVC number and then repackaged it (poorly) and sent it on. Obviously I cancelled the car as soon as I saw it, but I ask you, who they hell are they to open declared highly personal mail? They could have just scanned it. \ No, for sure, everything is out of control and needs to be? (1) loved into submission or (2) terminated

OK. thanks again. And I agree, PgP is a royal pain, but for now there is no other way. Hey, I have an idea. Start a company that takes silicon imprint of you thumb and index finger so that your wife/girlfriend/whomever can use your technology. Whadda think?

And I guess more to the point is, do you agree with this setup? Why should people lose their tradition rights to privacy?

OK. thanks. That is great information. Is this a 'world' standard, or something that is implemented in the US. Also, what if you are sending PgP email. Is that decoded as well?

I think we are talking two different things here. SSL is the physical transport layer. Great if it is encrypted, but it need not be, because the software that the VPN provide creates an encrypted message for you. Now the only way I know of, for someone getting a hold of that encrypted message is through spooking ti's destination address. I'm sure that in the past the NSA/CIA/ETC had that capacity, but now that that DNS servers have been physically moved out of the US, I doubt it. In order to do such a re-direct you would require super Amin access and then reload the servers at least twice. The other thing is that if the message is encrypted by software, it may not be a simple matter of applying brute force to decode the message. The message may be doubly encrypted, in other words there would be 256**256 possible prime numbers to guess at. With those kinds of numbers you are approaching infinity. As far as 'seeing your information' goes, I stand by what I said earlier. If no logs are kept, there is no reason for your information to be decrypted - it can just pass through to it's (presumed) destinatinon.

Yes, but your assumption is that a log is kept. NordVPN, from everything I know, does not keep logs, but I have never looked into the backbone they run off of. I should do that.

So 'how' exactly does the ISP 'see' your encrypted data before it leaves their system, right at the point when the data is unencrypted? If there is no further encryption carrier, i.e. last mile encryption?

I should clarify my comment. It isn't NordVPN that is providing end to end, it is Protonmail. Sorry for any confusion.

That is no longer true. Several months ago (and I use NordVPN all the time), they indicated that they can now guarantee end-to-end encryption for both Protonmail users and the general community (i.e. gmail etc). As for Tresorit, I had been signed up with them for about a year, but, someone, somewhere, put a lot of effort into hacking them and I am no longer sure how secure they really are.

While this may have been true at the time of posting, most of it is no longer true. Worldwide, companies and business with web presence are closing 'the last mile' where your information might be seen, which simply means that once it leaves your computer encrypted, no one but the end recipient can see it. As for the ISP being able to 'see your information', that, I doubt. Most VPN's use 256 bit SHA encryption, which apparently was developed by the NSA, and since the solution to that encryption problem involves the random 'guessing' at billions of whole numbers, it is unlikely that any ISP has the computing power to break your encryption. In order to do it they would need either a super computer or a server farm that covered 400 acres and used half the electricity in Panama. As far as your 'information travelling in the clear' from your computer to the ISP, this is simply not true. If you use VPN software, your data gets 'encrypted at source', in other words at your cell phone, or tablet, or computer, so it DOES NOT travel 'in the clear' to the ISP. I have confirmed this through my own tests using CocoaPacketAnalyzer, that monitors the information streams that are being send to the ISP, and trust me, the information is definitely encrypted. An ISP can however, had over your information stream to the NSA, who does have the capacity (if they also have the interest) to break your encryption. It can happen. Nothing is for certain. But definitely using a VPN is an absolute must if you want to keep you password and banking information secure. One of the most highly recommended VPN"s is NordVPN who has their servers physically located in Panama, they keep no logs, so as far as the NSA obtaining your information, it is a stretch. Even thought NordVPN has it's servers physically located in Panama, they keep no logs and your data is mixed in with numerous other users before being sent over the wires. In addition to those safeguards, you can also opt to have your data stream split over parallel servers, with encryption and anonymous mixing. However, since residential service providers such as Cable and Wireless (read AT&T/NSA/CIA) use a static IP address as opposed to a dynamic IP address, it does make it easier for the ISP to extract your particular information for further processing. It has been a great concern to countries like Brazil (and others in LatAM I Imagine), that at one time every single piece of data went through the US, that is no longer the case. As with everything else, the US is slowly being moved aside thanks to all the hooliganism that they get up to. If you really, really, really want to be secure, simply use an email program (such as Protonmail or PGP) that allows you to add a password to the data stream, in addition the SHA256 encryption, or simply use Brazil as your exit point as Brazil has a separate line and security entrance to the WWW.

I had always used a combination of XE.COM (Based in Toronto) and Banistmo. The conversion spread that XE offers is very advantageous - usually no more than 1.5% over the wholesale rate (also called the mid-market rate) on the Canadian dollar amount, with no fees whatsoever. On the Panama end, Banistmo charges a flat 35.00 plus tax (2.35 I believe) for any amount that is deposited into their bank. I imagine the other banks (Banco General etc) are pretty much the same. XE is fast, safe, secure and Canadian. One of the big benefits is they assigned me a whopping huge maximum transfer amount. The way they work is that you pay Custom House LLC (in Vancouver) as a bill payment at your bank from your Canadian $ account, and Custom House takes care of paying XE etc. So, for instance, I you wanted to transfer 25K Canadian today, you would be charged 1.25% on the Canadian dollar amount plus .185% on the deposit fee in Panama, for a total of 1.435% of the transferred amount, or, $ 358.00 CAD in total. I found that this was by far the cheapest and fastest way to get money from Canada down to Panama. Taking money out of a machine is hyper expensive. You will pay at least 5% and sometimes as much as 7.5% on the transaction. Hope this helps. It isn't advisable to create a transfer order on the weekends as they raise the rate by 1/4% to offset any currency jitters, but if you put your order in Monday morning you will often have your funds in your account by close of business Wednesday.

Okay, you got me. It isn't half the state, it is 540 square Kilometres, and it is called the Hanford Site (I'm sure you have heard of it)? I guess my feeling on the matter, having worked in both mineral exploration and mining administration is that if Wiki says that ALL the groundwater under those 540 square kilometres is contaminated, then it would only stand to reason that a lot more groundwater is contaminated that what they will admit to. Water flows it doesn't just stay in one place. The Hanford site has been the ugly duckling of remediation effort for decades, and now the containment vessels (that were designed to last 20 years maximum) are being breached and plutonium contamination is seeping into the space between the two walls. What happens next is anybody's guess. And don't forget, with Plutonium, it only takes a few grains and your done for.

Unfortunately, it isn't jus the jungles of Panama. Nearly half of Washington State is permanently contaminated with plutonium, and the storage site is right beside the Columbia River. It seems that no body in the last 100 years paid any particular attention to what these chemicals and substances might do in the future.