On Friday 07 February 2003 16:22, Mike Rosing wrote:
> On Fri, 7 Feb 2003, Michael Cardenas wrote:
> > If secret searches with secret warrants are legal now, what good is
> > it to use public key encryption and keep a backup of your private
> > key at home on a floppy?
> >
> > Is there a protocol to have a "blinded" private key, so you
> > wouldn't actually have access to your own private key?
>
> If you use ECC you don't need to keep anything but your pass phrase
> in your head. It does help to not lose your head, so don't fly on a
> space shuttle :-)
I'd be more interested in a system in which I didn't have access to my
own key. Warrant-proof, contempt-proof and preferably rubber
hose-proof. Maybe a decryption program connected to a voice stress
analyzer.
Legal question: If Alice selected and used a system in which she
wouldn't be _able_ to provide the decryption key or the decrypted
documents on demand, would she still be liable under contempt or
criminal charges for not providing them? Maybe she used a dongle with
the key, which erased itself if not activated every 24 hours. Emphasis
on her not taking any action to delete files or erase a key after being
served or arrested. I'm mainly interested in US law, but would be
interested in other jurisdictions, too.
--
Steve Furlong Computer Condottiere Have GNU, Will Travel
You don't expect governments to obey the law because of some higher
moral development. You expect them to obey the law because they know
that if they don't, those who aren't shot will be hanged.
--Michael Shirley
