Political Quotes

“I am pleased to join a bipartisan group of Senators in supporting legislation to encourage the development and use of strong, privacy-enhancing technologies for the Internet by rolling back the outdated restrictions on the export of strong cryptography. As an Internet user myself, I care deeply about protecting individual privacy and encouraging the development of the Net as a secure and trusted communications medium. Current export restrictions only allow American companies to export primarily weak encryption technology. The current strength of encryption the U.S. government will allow out of the country is so weak that, according to a January 1996 study conducted by world-renowned cryptographers, a pedestrian hacker can crack the codes in a matter of hours. A foreign intelligence agency can crack the current 40-bit codes in seconds. Perhaps more importantly, the increasing use of the Internet and similar interactive communications technologies by Americans to obtain critical medical services, to conduct business, to be entertained and communicate with their friends, raises special concerns about the privacy and confidentiality of those communications. I have long been concerned about these issues, and have worked over the past decade to protect privacy and security for our wire and electronic communications. Encryption technology provides an effective way to ensure that only the people we choose can read our communications.”