28 - Munitions, wiretaps and MP3s: The changing interface between privacy and encryption policy in the information society

Abstract

This chapter discusses the changing interface between privacy and encryption policy in the information society. The development of national policies on the distribution, and the use of cryptographic techniques and efforts by various groups within society to use encryption to protect individual and group secrets in communications have existed for centuries. As strong encryption technologies began to come widely into the public sphere, governmental legislative and policy responses began to shift from barring disclosure and research to barring their export to other countries and restricting their legal use by the public. The encryption systems of varying strengths that are increasingly embedded in consumer software—such as web browsers—and commercial software—such as website payment systems—are not just present because the security of commercial transactions is mandated by law. They are there because browser developers and website owners perceive a need to inculcate a high level of trust in potential users to persuade them to move from off-line to on-line commercial activity.