In the last few years, considerable advances have been made, most notably in the public key infrastructure development, but we are now hampered by a lack of convergence on industry standards. Without those standards there can be no interoperability among users, a critical functionality for general purpose e-mail. The marketplace will eventually identify a solution, but the delay is frustrating. The issues surrounding electronic privacy are compounded by both the volatility and the adaptability of the underlying technologies. Tools that were once considered invincible, such as encryption using 48-bit keys, are compromised as new computational approaches emerge.
Legal issues cloud the picture as well.
Similarly, much litigation now depends upon decipherable electronic evidence such as e-mail. When that is encrypted, it will wreak havoc with legal processes. Our public and private lives are increasingly being carried out across computer-based communications. Having built remarkable network links in our world, it is now time to put locks on the electronic doors.