But then so does the telephone system and the Royal Mail, and yet nobody proposes tapping every phone in the land or scanning every letter. A terrifying erosion in our liberties is being planned, yet the threat is largely ignored. Most people do not currently encrypt their email, even though an unencrypted email is as vulnerable to snooping as an ordinary postcard. But in five years' encryption will have become a necessity. Human nature being what it is, people will lose or forget their decryption keys - and some will find themselves attempting to convince a judge that they are not paedophiles feigning amnesia to qualify for a shorter sentence.
Most countries impose no restrictions on the use of encryption by their citizens.
The exceptions tend to be authoritarian regimes such as those in Russia and China. New e-commerce Bill makes it illegal for government to access commercial cryptographic keys. The government has recently announced a new policy of totally relaxing controls on domestic use of encryption. No domestic controls on use of cryptography, though Washington looks enviously at the UK RIP bill. Has long been the European leader in opposing restrictions on citizens' use of encryption.