Re: France Allows 128 Bit Crypto

[Michael Froomkin - U.Miami School of Law]

Of course destroying a key is destroying evidence.

But, absent required records in some highly regulated industries, or a
court order requiring record preservation, it's usually not illegal to
destroy evidence unless it's done in furtherance of a conspiracy, or if
you know or have reason to know that a subpoena or search warrant has been
(or, is about to be) issued for that stuff. 

In other words, you can trash your keys in the ordinary course of your
life, and since it's your key, that's usually not a legal problem, even if
it makes life harder for some LEO some day, unless some special
circumstances apply.  One such special circumstance is an official piece
of paper with your name on it...

The layman's analysis below is under-cautious....

On Mon, 25 Jan 1999, Dan Geer wrote:

[...]
> Be prepared to destroy the key, then.

[...]
> 
> Froomkin's and Sergienko's analyses, cited here previously,
> are compelling, of course.  Unless I missed it in these
> two cites, however, there is an open question of whether
> deleting a key amounts to destroying evidence as, to this
> layman, it ain't evidence until it is admitted.  (Why am
> I recalling Geraldo's opening Al Capone's vault?...)
> 
> --dan
> 
> 

A. Michael Froomkin   |    Professor of Law    |   [EMAIL PROTECTED]
U. Miami School of Law, P.O. Box 248087, Coral Gables, FL 33124 USA
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