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Vice President Gore Questions Key Escrow Policy
From: David Farber <farber () central cis upenn edu>
Date: Sun, 13 Feb 1994 15:31:47 -0500
Date: Sun, 13 Feb 1994 15:24:34 -0600 To: farber () central cis upenn edu From: djw () eff org (Daniel J. Weitzner) Dave, this is what I sent Mike. Mike Nelson (White House OSTP) wrote re: my report on VP Gore's Clipper remarks: Correction: Gore said the Clipper proposal can be improved. (We all know that!) He didn't indicate he was walking away from the idea or that he was reconsidering decisions he and other top officials made less than 10 days ago. My response: It seems to me that a plan which is designed to protect personal privacy and business security should be carefully de-bugged BEFORE being offered to the public as a viable solution. The Vice President made a number of remarks to Mitch, Esther & myself which indicated that he thought there were serious problems with the current plan, most notably that the wrong escrow agents had been chosen. He suggested that some part of the judicial branch might be a more appropriate venue. Inasmuch as the indentity of the key holder determines the degree of privacy protection in the system as a whole, a less than ideal choice there is a material flaw in the whole system. BTW - an independent reporter who heard the converstation in its entirety (and probably has it on tape), confirmed our understanding of the Vice President's remarks. An excerpt from her story is appended to the end of this message. ================================== Vice President Says Clipper Chip Controls Inadequate Gore Indicates Administration's Position Is 'Not Locked in Stone' By Jayne Levin (c) 1994 WASHINGTON, Feb. 11--Vice President Gore said controls recently adopted by the Clinton administration that authorize two government agencies to safeguard the electronic "keys" in an encoding device called the "Clipper Chip" are inadequate. Under the Clipper plan, the keys would be stored at the Treasury Department and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), which is part of the Commerce Department. Both Treasury and Commerce are from the same branch of government, the executive branch. "When I saw that I said, 'Wow. Wow. That is not right,' and I raised hell about that," Gore said in an interview Thursday. Having the key holders from the same branch of government raises concern because there is no system of checks and balances, Gore said. "That's going to be changed," he said. Clipper gives law-enforcement agencies a key to eavesdrop on telephone and computer communications under a court order. The selection of NIST and Treasury "was spun out of the process at the low level and was not vetted at the top," Gore said. Gore's comments were made after appearing before the first meeting of a private sector advisory panel on the development of a "national information infrastructure" in Washington, D.C. ************************************************************************** Relying on the government to protect your privacy is like asking a peeping tom to install your window blinds. - John Perry Barlow, EFF co-founder The Electronic Frontier Foundation is working to protect your privacy. To help stop Clipper and eliminate export controls on cryptography, support a bill introduced in the House of Representatives, HR 3627. To support the bill, send email to <cantwell () eff org>. ...................................................................... Daniel J. Weitzner, Senior Staff Counsel <djw () eff org> Electronic Frontier Foundation 202-347-5400 (v) 1001 G St, NW Suite 950 East 202-393-5509 (f) Washington, DC 20001 *** Join EFF!!! Send mail to membership () eff org for information ***
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- Vice President Gore Questions Key Escrow Policy David Farber (Feb 13)