Georgia Institute of Technology researchers found last year that 40 percent of respondents had provided false information at least once when registering at electronic sites on the Web, primarily for fear about how that information might be used, or misused. Many Internet specialists say users' fears are largely exaggerated. An estimated 4 percent of U.S. households handle banking transactions on-line. On-line stock trading, by companies like ETrade and Ameritrade, is also growing fast. The questions of trust and confidence underlie the debate over encryption of on-line communications.
Encryption uses codes based on mathematical algorithms to make communications secure.
The Clinton administration does not want to allow foreign sales of encryption technology, for fear it will be used by drug traffickers, terrorists and other enemies of the state. But the administration has said it has no intention of seeking to control data-scrambling technology inside the country. Encryption of financial transactions, including payment by credit card, offers a high level of security, said James Boyle, an American University law professor who wrote a 1996 book on the law and electronic communications. Stories about credit card number theft, he said, are largely a myth. Increasingly, technological fixes, like the user-unique codes known as ''digital signatures,'' will improve security, he said.