IP: EFF Announces 'Golden Key' Campaign

[Dave Farber <farber () central cis upenn edu>]

        EFF to Help Plant Seeds of 'Golden Key' Grassroots Campaign
                   For Secure Electronic Communication


Electronic Frontier Foundation
Contacts: 
* Lori Fena, Exec. Dir.
415/436-9333 
lori () eff org


For Immediate 
Release                                                         May 2, 1996
________________________________________________________________________________
        Using the symbols of a key and envelope, the Electronic Frontier 
Foundation (EFF), along with many other organizations concerned with the 
security of electronic communication, is helping to spread the word about 
a new international grassroots campaign promoting online privacy. The 
purpose of the "Golden Key" Campaign for Secure Communication Online is 
to urge the online community, computer industry, government agencies and 
lawmakers to support the protection of privacy and security on the 
rapidly growing Internet


                        *About the Golden Key Campaign*
Both the key and the envelope symbolize historic means for 
communicating privately and protecting personal information. Today, 
encryption tools provide this privacy in the electronic world.


"The importance of privacy as a common good in a society which 
values democracy is not new," said Lori Fena, executive director of EFF. 
"For the same reasons you would not send a love letter or your credit 
card number through the mail on the back of a post card, we need to 
ensure that encryption -- the electronic version of an envelope -- 
remains widely available and truly useful."


The Golden Key Campaign is being launched to raise awareness and 
support for the preservation of the right to communicate privately and 
the availability of new techniques which make it possible.


Privacy, a fundamental human right, has been affirmed by the U.S. 
Supreme Court, the constitutions and laws of many countries, and the 
United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.  Privacy must be 
preserved as we move from paper to electronic communications.


EFF is encouraging members of the online community to display the 
Golden Key logo wherever possible and help educate legislators in the 
U.S. and abroad about the importance of secure online communication. The 
logo may be freely obtained and redistributed by downloading any one of 
the several versions available on EFF's Golden Key site, at 
http://www.eff.org/goldkey.html.
        
        *Recent Events Highlight Importance of Electronic Encryption*
While security and privacy of communication is an age-old value, 
recent events in the courts and U.S. congress have brought new attention 
to the issue.


Just today, U.S. Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., introduced 
legislation that would relax export controls on commercial products 
containing technologies for privacy, such as encryption. Hearings on the 
Burns bill are expected to take place in early June. The proposal has 
already gathered support from a bipartisan coalition in Congress.


Two other similar bills, the "Encrypted Communication Privacy 
Act" (S. 1587) and the "Security And Freedom through Encryption (SAFE) 
Act" (H.R. 3011), were introduced March 5, by Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., 
and Rep. Robert Goodlatte, R-Va., respectively.


Electronic communication security and export of encryption has 
also been an important issue in Federal courts recently. In a landmark 
decision two weeks ago, a U.S. District Judge in San Francisco denied the 
government's motion to dismiss mathematician Daniel Bernstein's case in 
which he seeks the ability to freely export his encryption algorithm, 
"Snuffle." The decision was the first time that a U.S. court recognized 
source code as Constitutionally protected speech.


                *EFF Joins EPIC, CDT, VTW, ACLU and Others in Forming
                          Internet Privacy Coalition*
The Internet Privacy Coalition is the first attempt to bring 
together a broad base of companies, cryptographers and public interest 
organizations around the central goal of promoting privacy and security 
on the Internet and urging relaxation of export controls on encryption tools.
The coalition is maintaining a web page at http://www.privacy.org .
The site will serve as a central depository for information and discussion
regarding online encryption and secure electronic communication.


                      *The Electronic Frontier Foundation*
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is a nonprofit public 
interest organization devoted to the protection of online privacy and 
free expression. EFF was founded in 1990, and is based in San Francisco, 
California. It maintains an archive of information on privacy and 
cryptography at http://www.eff.org/pub/Privacy/


EFF has been involved for several years with the protection of 
secure and private electronic communication.  In 1993-4, EFF and other 
civil liberties organizations successfully opposed implementation of the 
U.S. Administration's "Clipper" or "Skipjack" system - hardware 
encryption for voice and data communications in which all encryption keys 
are held by government for the convenience of law enforcement and 
intelligence agencies. 


In 1994, EFF helped ensure that crypto export became a major 
legislative topic, laying the groundwork for eventual liberalization of 
the ITARs. In 1994 and 1995 EFF opposed implementation of and helped 
defeat funding for the FBI's "Digital Telephony" scheme, in which up to 
one person on every city block could be simultaneously wiretapped.
                                ###