The use of security on electronic networks can prevent a whole new breed of terrorism. It could prevent terrorists from manipulating power plant operations or air traffic control systems, or even from changing the engineering designs of products, potentially endangering us all. Current export controls aren't succeeding in keeping encryption products out of the hands of computer users in other countries, but they are putting U.S. computer companies at a competitive disadvantage. The government shouldn't cripple the computer industry every time a new technology is developed that challenges law enforcement. Many questions remain unanswered by the Administration and today I will ask them a number about their unreleased proposal.
Many questions remain unanswered.
The Administration has been promising to send up its encryption proposal for months. Many substantive questions remain. For that matter I will be interested to see how the term key recovery is defined. If the key must be held by an agent certified by the government, which for the time means an approved entity in the United States with at least some employees having secret security clearances, the proposal will raise many crucial privacy concerns. Such a proposal involves substantial costs, would be a significant administrative burden for U.S. firms, and threatens the privacy of U.S. citizens.