If we fail to enact legislation that will ensure a continued capability for court-ordered electronic surveillance … systems fielded without an adequate provision for court-ordered intercepts would become sanctuaries for criminality wherein Organized Crime leaders, drug dealers, terrorists, and other criminals could conspire and act with impunity. Eventually, we could find ourselves with an increase in major crimes against society, a greatly diminished capacity to fight them, and no timely solution.
Predictor: Denning, Dorothy
Prediction, in context:In a 1993 article for Wired magazine, Steven Levy writes about encryption, quoting Georgetown University Professor Dorothy Denning. Levy writes: ”Georgetown University Professor Dorothy Denning, a respected figure in academic crypto circles, [writes,] ‘If we fail to enact legislation that will ensure a continued capability for court-ordered electronic surveillance … systems fielded without an adequate provision for court-ordered intercepts would become sanctuaries for criminality wherein Organized Crime leaders, drug dealers, terrorists, and other criminals could conspire and act with impunity. Eventually, we could find ourselves with an increase in major crimes against society, a greatly diminished capacity to fight them, and no timely solution.'”
Biography:Dorothy Denning was a professor and chair of Computer Science at Georgetown University in the 1990s, by which time she had been in the field of computer security and cryptography for two decades. Previous to her arrival at GU, she worked at Digital Equipment Corporation, SRI International and Purdue University. Her books include “Cryptography and Data Security” and “Information Warfare and Security.” She authored many Internet research studies. She was the first president of the International Association for Cryptologic Research. (Research Scientist/Illuminator.)
Date of prediction: May 1, 1993
Topic of prediction: Communication
Subtopic: Security/Encryption
Name of publication: Wired
Title, headline, chapter name: Crypto Rebels
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/1.02/crypto.rebels_pr.html
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Anderson, Janna Quitney