Abstract

Stephen T. Walker, Steven B. Lipner, Carl M. Ellison, and David M. Balenson tension has been growing for the past 20 years between the interests of the public in protecting its sensitive information and the interests of governments in gaining access to the information of their adversaries. The Clipper Key Escrow program was an attempt nience for the user. Twenty years ago, the Data Encryption Standard (DES)[5] elevated a high-quality cryptographic algorithm to the level of national standard to facilitate interoperability among users. Personal computers brought down the cost of that standard cryptography. This should have led to an explosion in use of cryptography, which has not yet occurred but might occur in the future. Electronic communications and its vulnerability to eavesdropping have led to a fundamental tension between government agencies and individuals over the right to privacy. The individual expects a …

Date

1996

Authors

Stephen T Walker, Steven B Lipner, Carl M Ellison, David M Balenson

Journal

Communications of the ACM

Volume

39

Issue

3

Pages

41-47

Publisher

ACM