However, the government-approved encryption programs are so weak they've already been broken. So, our privacy is already in jeopardy, everyday. Think of encryption as a digital envelope, protecting your e-mail, credit card numbers and medical information from being read by strangers during electronic transactions. Privacy, anonymity and security in the digital world depend on encryption. Banks, brokers and other financial organizations transfer billions of dollars electronically every day.
Doctors regularly send confidential patient records from labs to hospitals and insurance companies.
And human rights workers around the globe want to protect their information sources from harassment and retaliation. Just as you wouldn't give the President your automatic bank card's PIN code, you wouldn't want the government to snoop on your stored information or communications. The agents would then be required to turn the codes over to the government under a wide range of circumstances and without your knowledge. At each of those stopping points, it could be intercepted and read by anyone who has access to those intermediary computer hosts. Encryption protects against these intrusions.