A worldwide survey of encryption policies finds few countries restricting the use, manufacture, or sale of data-scrambling software.
Encryption is the single most powerful and effective technology for protecting privacy.
Law enforcement and intelligence agencies of many nations, including the United States, limit the software's distribution, fearing that it might be used to conceal crimes. The study notes that the OECD Cryptography Guidelines, adopted in 1997, are encouraging further liberalization of controls on encryption. The European Union has also come out against crypto controls. But the latest version of an international arms control treaty clouded the survey, at least in part. This week, Congress is holding hearings on legislation that would relax export controls in the United States.