[I could find no instance in the cypherpunks archives of this thread. Forgive me if I've erred.] As single chip crypto devices are now available (e.g., smart cards) it is not unreasonable to ask how the implantation of advanced bio-chips may challenge current notions of civil liberties. A key US legal assumption of privacy is that one has an unlimited right to one's thoughts but limited rights to ones ideas reduced to tangible form and to communications. (The threads regarding the ability of the courts to cause the a witness to disgorge a crypto key are closely related.) Another civil liberty is the assumption that one owns and controls one's body (unless arrested/imprisoned) and the government may not alter or injure your body. Most citizens and hopefully the courts would find invasion of this most sacrosanct part of one's being are repugnant. An implied aspects of the privacy-crypto debate is that mechanical/electronic devices outside of one's body are required for use of crypto. But what happens if a person's body is augmented for various purposes, including data storage, crypto and communications? Unless a proven crime were committed via these devices, is it feasible that a person could be forced to submit to removal of an implant or to disgorge their data contents? --Steve PGP mail preferred, see http://web.mit.edu/network/pgp.html PGP Fingerprint: FE 90 1A 95 9D EA 8D 61 81 2E CC A9 A4 4A FB A9 --------------------------------------------------------------------- Steve Schear (N7ZEZ) | Internet: azur@netcom.com 7075 West Gowan Road | Voice: 1-702-658-2654 Suite 2148 | Fax: 1-702-658-2673 Las Vegas, NV 89129 | --------------------------------------------------------------------- God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; The courage to change the things I can; The weapons that make the difference; And the wisdom to hide the bodies of the people that got in my way;-) "Surveilence is ultimately just another form of media, and thus, potential entertainment." --G. Beato "We've all heard that a million monkeys banging on a million typewriters will eventually reproduce the entire works of Shakespeare. Now, thanks to the Internet, we know this is not true." -- Dr. Robert Silensky