Privacy on the Line: The Politics of Wiretapping and Encryption

Diffie, Whitfield, and Landau, Susan

ISBN 10: 0262041677 / ISBN 13: 9780262041676

Published by The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 1998

About this Item

xi, [3], 342, [2] p. Notes. Bibliography. Index. Telecommunication has never been perfectly secure, as a Cold War culture of wiretaps and international spying taught us. Yet many still take their privacy for granted, even as we become more reliant on telephones, computer networks and electronic transactions of all kinds. Many of our relationships now use telecommunication as the primary mode of communication that the security of these transactions has become a source of wide public concern and debate. The authors argue that if we are to retain the privacy that characterized face-to-face relationships in the past, we must build the means of protecting that privacy into our communications systems. However, the development of such protection is not easy. The US government uses strong export control to limit the availability of cryptography within the United States and bills introduced in 1997 place legal restrictions on the essential elements of any secure communications system. These policies attempt to limit encryption to forms that provide a "backdoor" for government wiretapping. This book aims to strip away the hype surrounding the policy debate to examine the national security, law enforcement, commercial and civil liberties issues. It discusses the social function of privacy, how it underlies a democratic society and what happens when it is lost. The book also explores the workings of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, how they intercept communications and how they use what they intercept.

Seller Inventory # 66657

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Privacy on the Line: The Politics of Wiretapping and Encryption
• Publisher: The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA
• Publication Date: 1998
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0262041677
• ISBN 13: 9780262041676
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: Presumed first edition/first printing.
• Condition: Very good
• Dust Jacket Condition: very good

About this title

Synopsis

1999 IEEE-USAB Award for Distinguished Literary Contributions Furthering Public Understanding of the Profession. and Winner of the 1998 Donald McGannon Award for Social and Ethical Relevance in Communication Policy Research

Telecommunication has never been perfectly secure, as a Cold War culture of wiretaps and international spying taught us. Yet many of us still take our privacy for granted, even as we become more reliant than ever on telephones, computer networks, and electronic transactions of all kinds. Whitfield Diffie and Susan Landau argue that if we are to retain the privacy that characterized face-to-face relationships in the past, we must build the means of protecting that privacy into our communication systems.

Diffie and Landau strip away the hype surrounding the policy debate to examine the national security, law enforcement, commercial, and civil liberties issues. They discuss the social function of privacy, how it underlies a democratic society, and what happens when it is lost.

Review

..."[A] wise, meticulously researched and, given the bureaucratic language of policy making, surprisingly readable guide." -- London Review of Books ""Privacy on the Line." . . should be required reading for any computing student at any level..."-- Harold Thimbleby, New Scientist ..." A wise, meticulously researched and, given the bureaucratic language of policy making, surprisingly readable guide."-- London Review of Books " "Privacy on the Line," . . should be required reading for any computing student at any level..." -- Harold Thimbleby, New Scientist " ...[A] wise, meticulously researched and, given the bureaucratic language of policy making, surprisingly readable guide." -- London Review of Books & quot; ...[A] wise, meticulously researched and, given the bureaucratic language of policy making, surprisingly readable guide.& quot; -- London Review of Books & quot; Privacy on the Line . . . should be required reading for any computing student at any level...& quot; -- Harold Thimbleby, New Scientist ""Privacy on the Line," . . should be required reading for any computing student at any level..." -- Harold Thimbleby, "New Scientist" .,."[A] wise, meticulously researched and, given the bureaucratic language of policy making, surprisingly readable guide." -- "London Review of Books" " ."..[A] wise, meticulously researched and, given the bureaucratic language of policy making, surprisingly readable guide."-- "London Review of Books" ""Privacy on the Line". . . should be required reading for any computing student at any level..."-- Harold Thimbleby, "New Scientist"