Before American citizens and potential customers of American computer and telecommunications products will see this as the solution to privacy and security concerns, they must be assured that ironclad procedures are in place to guarantee that, absent a court order, no one will be able to decode their private communications, except the recipient they choose. Otherwise, even law-abiding users will not want to use encryption devices with Clipper Chip.
Predictor: Leahy, Patrick
Prediction, in context:In his May 1994 testimony at a Senate Technology and the Law Subcommittee hearing on the Clipper Chip Key Escrow Encryption program , Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) makes the following statement: ”The Administration has stressed the security of Clipper Chip for encrypting voice, fax, and computer information communicated over a telephone system. The price for this security is that two federal agencies will hold a duplicate set of keys to decode any communication encrypted with the Clipper Chip, before any wiretap order has been issued. Before American citizens and potential customers of American computer and telecommunications products will see this as the solution to privacy and security concerns, they must be assured that ironclad procedures are in place to guarantee that, absent a court order, no one will be able to decode their private communications, except the recipient they choose. Otherwise, even law-abiding users will not want to use encryption devices with Clipper Chip … We will not be able to secure communications across national borders with Clipper Chip if neither foreign governments nor overseas computer networks will use it.”
Biography:Patrick Leahy was a U.S. Senate member who played an important role in Congressional discussions of the Internet in the 1990s. (Legislator/Politician/Lawyer.)
Date of prediction: May 3, 1994
Topic of prediction: Communication
Subtopic: Security/Encryption
Name of publication: Press Release
Title, headline, chapter name: Statement of Senator Patrick J. Leahy Chairman, Technology and the Law Subcommittee Hearing on the Administration’s Clipper Chip Key Escrow Encryption Program
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://www.eff.org/Privacy/Key_escrow/Clipper/leahy_clipper_050394.testimony
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Little, Brandi W.