Vice President Says Clipper Chip Controls Inadequate Gore Indicates Administration's Position is 'Not Locked in Stone' By Jay Levin (C) 1994
From New York Unix Vol 4 #3. For private use only.
WASHINGTON, Feb 11 -- Vice President Gore said controls recently adopted by the Clinton administration that authorise two government agencies to safeguard the electronic "keys" in an encoding device called the "Clipper Chip" are inadequate. Under the Clipper plan, the keys would be stored at the Treasury Department and the National Insitute of Standards and Technology (NIST), whic is part of the Commerce Department. Both Treasury and Commerce are from the same branch of government, the executive branch. "When I saw that I said 'Wow. That is not right,' and I raised hell about that," Gore said in an interview Thursday. Having the key holders from the same branch of government raises concern because there is no systems of checks and balances, Gore said. "That's going to be changed," he said. Clipper gives law-enforcement agencies a key to eavesdrop on computer comunications under a court order. The selection of NIST and Treasury "was spun out of the process at the low level and was not vetted at the top," Gore said. Gore's comments were made after appearing before the first meeting of a private sector advisory panel on the development of a "national information infrastructure" in Washington, D.C. The administration announced Feb. 4 that it intends to push ahead with the voluntary Clipper Chip encryption scheme, despite vehement opposition from computer companies and watchdog groups, such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and the Computer Professionals for Social Responsability. But Gore indicated Thursday that the administration's position is "not locked in stone." "Our determination to solve the problem is locked in stone, and our determination to proceed with this in the absence of of a better solution is locked in stone," he said "...the burden is on those who say there is a better solution because no solution for the national security dimention of the problem is acceptable to us." Mitch Kapor, EFF chairman and a member of the advisory comittee, said he was "encouraged" by the vice president's remarks. "This signals to me that [the administration] is very ready and willing to look at alternatives... both to the administrative procedures and the technology." Computer manufactures, telecomunication companies and civil rights groups argue that Clipper would undermine individuals' rights to privacy and cripple U.S. exports of computer products. "If I'm going to conduct business... engage in confidential conversations... send money and credit card numbers over this infra- structure, I want some guarantee that my communications are private and that some rogue law enforcement officer can't go in and compromise my information," said Esther Dyson, president of EDventure Holdings, Inc. and a panel member.