Date: Mon, 16 Aug 1999 22:03:49 -0600
Reply-To: mea culpa <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
From: mea culpa <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Bill reopens encryption access debate
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.fcw.com:80/pubs/fcw/1999/0816/fcw-newsencrypt-08-16-99.html
Bill reopens encryption access debate
BY DOUG BROWN ([EMAIL PROTECTED])
AND L. SCOTT TILLETT ([EMAIL PROTECTED])
Renewing efforts to allow law enforcement agencies to access and read
suspected criminals' encrypted electronic files, the Clinton
administration has drafted a bill that would give those agencies access to
the electronic "keys" held by third parties.
The Cyberspace Electronic Security Act, the drafting of which is being led
by the Office and Management and Budget and the Justice Department,
"updates law enforcement and privacy rules for our emerging world of
widespread cryptography," according to an analysis accompanying the bill
obtained by Federal Computer Week.
Encryption technology, according to the draft, is "an important tool for
protecting the privacy of legitimate communications and stored data" but
also has been used "to facilitate and hide unlawful activity by
terrorists, drug traffickers, child pornographers and other criminals."
The new bill seeks to uncover that activity by allowing law enforcement
officials to obtain the keys needed to decrypt messages by applying for
search warrants or court orders, much as they might do to uncover other
evidence.
The administration is concerned about the use of encryption technology
because advances in recent years have made it extremely difficult for law
enforcement officials to crack a code once they have intercepted a
message.
[snip..]
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