Our society is increasingly becoming an information society, in which the availability of information and the use of information channels have become essential parts of societal intercourse. This technological development implies that old ways of protecting data, which is vital to a considerable section of our society, have become inadequate. The combination of advanced mathematical techniques with the enormous growth of the possibilities for automatic data-processing has resulted in very strong systems of cryptography, that is, systems that are powerful, sophisticated, and virtually impregnable. Indeed, it is increasingly being used to that purpose by a considerable part of our society. On the other hand, the use of encryption by criminals, who will also increasingly make use of technological developments, creates problems for the investigation and finding of evidence by the judicial authorities, owing to the same development of strong cryptographic systems.
Encryption can also threaten the work of national security agencies.
In the Netherlands a discussion of the pros and cons of regulating the use of cryptography started in early 1994, triggered by an unsubmitted predraft-law. Reports on this predraft-law indicate that the proposed measure, a prohibition of using encryption except for those licensed by the government, would be ineffective and unenforceable. No satisfactory alternatives, however, have been given for resolving the problem of this conflict of concerns. The present commotion in the United States around the Clipper initiative, which has been presented by the authorities as a solution to this problem, shows that the concerns on both sides are vital and that compromises can meet with great opposition. One seems justified in calling this a dilemma to which no straightforward solution exists.