There seems to be some confusion about what the law of the land considers a "secret." Secrets according to our laws are knowledge one doesn not share without a BINDING legal obligation to keep the secret. Remember R4.C? That was a secret until it was shared, and hence lost its privileged position as a "Trade secret." Your secret key is just as safe, so long as it is always kept out of anyone else's hands. However if you are going to provide it to someone else it should be only through some form of contract. Even this might not be sufficient in some circumstances. The only truly safe possibility would be giving it to your lawyer in the course of your lawyers representation of you. NOTE: NOT YOUR COMPANY'S LAWYER. In house council have their obligation to the company, not to you. As such if they felt your key was unrelated to company business interests and possibly adverse to the company's interest...kiss that secret good bye. Sure, the police still need a warrant to go into your house and get the key, but they do NOT need a warrant to ask anyone else for your key, if you revealed your secret to someone who does not have an obligation of confidentiality to you, then they can reveal it with impunity. The danger of revealing it to a nonlawyer who has a contract with you is that they can be forced to reveal it, and still be liable to you for breech of contract... I am sure you see the dangers...just say no to key escrow...much safer. -Adam [NOTE: I am not an attorney, this is not legal advice, you get what you pay for] --=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-+-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-\ |PGP key available on my home page|Unauthorized interception violates | | http://XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX/adam |federal law (18 USC Section 2700 et| |-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-|seq.). In any case, PGP encrypted | |SUB ROSA... |communications are preferred for | | (see home page for definition) |sensitive materials. | \-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-+-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-/