This is Internet On The Air...I'm Joan Silvi. Keeping secrets on the Internet - details
in a moment.
Funding Credit: Internet On The Air is a production of the University of
Michigan School of Information and Michigan radio, made possible by a grant from the W.K.
Kellogg Foundation.
This is Internet On The Air. When you hear the terms
"cryptology" or "encryption" you may think of the CIA. But
increasingly, this technology is being used to protect information transmitted by e-mail
or on-line banking so that only the sender and receiver can decode the messages. Now
questions are being raised whether these safeguards are strong enough.
There have been limits imposed on the use of encryption technology that date back to
the Cold War. Many of the most secure systems have been reserved to protect national
security or assist in law enforcement.
But now that the Cold War has ended and electronic commerce has exploded, business
leaders and policy makers are questioning whether current restrictions on the use of
encryption technology is hurting economic development.
Most of those who argue in favor of keeping the restrictions worry that criminals may
use the system to hide illegal activities. The Clinton Administration has proposed a
compromise that would allow the export of stronger encryption technology but would require
that all encryption keys be registered with a third party. Advocates of stronger
deregulation suggest that the technology be treated as a commercial matter to promote the
growth of international commerce.
The issue is currently under debate in Congress and whether lawmakers come down on the
side of national security or international development is the biggest mystery of all.
To learn more about the Internet and encryption technology, visit our Web site at
www.si.umich.edu/iota. For Internet On The Air, I'm Joan Silvi.
