Privacy on the Line: The Politics of Wiretapping and Encryption

by Whitfield Diffie, Susan Landau

A penetrating and insightful study of privacy and security in telecommunications for a post-9/11, post-Patriot Act world. Telecommunication has never been perfectly secure. The Cold War culture of recording devices in telephone receivers and bugged embassy offices has been succeeded by a post-9/11 world of NSA wiretaps and demands for data retention. Although the 1990s battle for individual and commercial freedom to use cryptography was won, growth in the use of cryptography has been slow. Meanwhile, regulations requiring that the computer and communication industries build spying into their systems for government convenience have increased rapidly. The application of the 1994 Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act has expanded beyond the intent of Congress to apply to voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and other modern data services; attempts are being made to require ISPs to retain their data for years in case the government wants it; and data mining techniques developed for commercial marketing applications are being applied to widespread surveillance of the population. In Privacy on the Line , Whitfield Diffie and Susan Landau strip away the hype surrounding the policy debate over privacy 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. This updated and expanded edition revises their original--and prescient--discussions of both policy and technology in light of recent controversies over NSA spying and other government threats to communications privacy.

Genres: Nonfiction

473 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

Reviews

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Got very nice autographs in the front cover from both authors: "To a wannabe cryptographer, keep the faith, Enigmatically, Susan", and "From a once and future wannabee, Whit". :-)

[Nicholas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simply put, if you want to know more about privacy issues and/or surveillance technologies, this book is a must-read. This author knows what she is talking about. This issues are becoming much more relevant, as the Supreme Court has taken up these issues and domestic law enforcement officials are increasingly relying on electronic surveillance.

[Michael Powe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Surprisingly well-written and certainly relevant to the modern state of electronic eavesdropping. Whitfield Diffie was co-creator of public key encryption, which is today critical to sensitive data storage around the world.

[Yvonne]

Interesting explanation of the tradeoffs between privacy and security - including debunking of conventional wisdom about the necessity of law enforcement tools such as wiretaps.