I would encourage others to submit their opinions ASAP at: http://www.crypto.com Ern ------- Forwarded Message Date: Fri, 21 Jun 1996 17:47:51 -0400 (EDT) From: hua@chromatic.com Subject: Testimony submitted for Congressional hearings on 6/26/96 The following testimony was submitted from http://www.crypto.com/submit/ Please contact Shabbir J. Safdar at shabbir@vtw.org if any information is not correct. Do you use encryption technogies today (e.g., PGP, etc..): no If no, why not: Because it is not built in to a lot of the products I use today (e.g. email programs) As an Internet user, security and encryption are crucial to my privacy because: Both 1 and 2 equally Tell us more about why you would (or would not) use strong encryption as an individual Internet user: Unlike murder, terrorism, burglary, etc, there are activities which are socially "borderline", meaning that some people want to outlaw but some people don't. There are activities which may be embarassing to publicly acknowledge, but aren't really illegal. I firmly believe in our legal system, but I also firmly believe that there are questionable laws, and today's criminals and trouble makers could be tomorrow's civil right advocates or Nobel peace prize winners or freedom fighters. Encryption does not allow these "questionable" people to murder or harm anyone. It is just software. It is not a knife or a gun. Unlike what the FBI wants everyone to believe, encryption does not mean hackers can now break into the Federal Reserve and destroy the US banking system (in fact, encryption, among many other technologies, help protect these systems in the first place). As a business owner or employee, security and encryption are critical to my business because: Both 1 and 2 equally Tell us more about why you would (or would not) use strong encryption as a business user of the Internet: Hackers, viruses, industrial espionage, privacy, network traffic control, time stamping, etc. I don't believe, for a moment, that being a government official exempts a person from having character flaws or less-than-saintly behavior. I don't think they are necessarily any WORSE either, but I believe everyone is human to some degree. There are honest mistakes, there are less-than-honest mistakes, and there may, on rare occasions, be horrible evil. We must hold people in power (governmental and otherwise) to high standards, but we cannot lower our guard just because we expect them to be saintly. Given what you know about Key Escrow systems: I would use an escrow system only if I could choose the key holder (including my friends, lawyer, accountant, etc.) Do you think that the government should be able, under certain circumstances, for a limited time, and only with the specific authorization of a Judge, have the authority to conduct electronic surveillance in order protect public safety and national security? Yes Tell us why or why not: I think the government should have the resources to be "above current technology". They can invest in super-wiz-bang decryption and surveillance technology that the ordinary person cannot buy or make. However, if the ordinary person can buy or make it, then it is silly to think that a law will make a criminal NOT buy or make it. Just look at the illegal weapons trade as an example. Encryption should be illegal if it a morally, ethically bad thing to possess or use. However, making it illegal just because it becomes extremely inconvenient for law enforcement is like requiring that every room in every house be installed with a government-approved video camera, just in case you were involved in some illegal activity. Afterall, significant percentages of child abuse or child molestation (or pick your favorite emotionally-charged crime) are done within the comfort of the child's home. This last idea, about the cameras in every room, is not that far off in some countries. Britain has cameras in many public areas already. It would be law enforcement's (excuse the language) "wet dream" to have such all-seeing access. The only reason they have not asked for it is because it would never be acceptable to the public. But, unlike video cameras, encryption is something which very few people understand yet, so the FBI can feel okay about asking for something which only a few "hackers" and "liberals" are against. What does strict control of encryption buy law enforcement? Not much. Encryption is only hides information, but the more globally accepted illegal behaviors are far more tangible than information. A murder assumes that there is a missing person or dead body or traces to be recovered. A molested child assumes that there is a child who is harmed. No amount of super-military strength encryption can hide these physical things. So this issue becomes one of why should we give up privacy for the sheer convenience of the law enforcement community. There is also the question of why, no matter how much escrowing, should there be a strength limitation on encryption? Who ELSE is trying to decode this stuff besides law enforcement, who presummably has access to the escrowed keys? This aspect of the pro-escrow proposals raises all sorts of questions about just how much hidden abuse is there in the government. If you are not a US citizen (and live out side the US) and you use encryption, please tell us what you use and how you obtained it. I am now a citizen, but I was previously a citizen of Taiwan during some very tough times. The government was honest about violation of privacy: On the phones were clear warnings stating that you should NOT talk about political issues over the phone; you may be tapped. That's not a nice situation, but at least they were honest about how widespread the use of wiretaps would be. And those were exceptional times of crisis. But we, in the US, are not in a time of military-grade crisis. There is no foreseeable need for wide-spread imposition of martial law. There is no uprising, no wide-spread terrorism of any sort. I just do not see the need for the surveillance powers that the FBI wants. 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