Hi, since I'm working for the local government, maybe I could help you with some topics...
For me, it is like if you'd allow people to have their own lock and keys on the door. If you're paranoid and think that everyone around you is a potential criminal, then yes - you should deny people the freedom to lock their doors. Or, if you know that your police system is 100% efficient, then you can tell them they don't have to lock the door because there won't be any burglars around and noone will ever think of going into someone other's house. Now, for the crypto for the people - it is just like the lock and key for their house. Of course, there might be some terrorists hiding behind cyphered e-mails, but on the other hand, there allways are terrorists gathering in someone's house - well locked. ;-) It wouldn't help the government to make people belive they think all of them are potential criminals or terrorists. ;) On the other hand, we would like to have electronic correspodence with our citizens, so we should be able to give them reasonable way to digitally sign the papers and feel safe about that. Without means to really encrypt the data so that only police or military with big equipment could break it (or even stronger encryption) will make citizens feeling more secure about it. We're all forgetting that we're here for the citizen, not vice versa. The digital age is coming, and we should work with them to protect their digital rights, not turn into Big Brother. And happy citizen will allways reelect those who made his/her life better. ;-) -- Radoslav Dejanovic Senior Associate to Mayor's Office City of Zagreb, Croatia
