interagency_workgroup.notice (fwd)

[Mike Godwin <mnemonic@eff.org>]

Forwarded message:
From postmaster Fri Feb  4 17:48:58 1994
Date: Fri, 4 Feb 1994 17:47:41 -0500
From: Dan Brown <brown>
Message-Id: <199402042247.RAA00199@eff.org>
To: eff-board, eff-staff
Subject: interagency_workgroup.notice

>From the White House
Feb. 4, 1994

******************************************************************

WORKING GROUP ON DATA SECURITY



The Administration has created a new interagency working on data 
security to deal with issues like encryption and digital 
telephony. This group will be chaired by the White House Office of 
Science and Technology Policy and the National Security Council 
and will include representatives of the agencies that have 
participated in Presidential Review Directive 27, which called for 
a comprehensive review of the impact of encryption technology and 
advanced digital telecomrnunications systems. Agencies 
participating in the new working group include the Office of 
Management and Budget, FBI, Department of Justice, Department of 
Comrnerce, National Security Agency, the Department of Treasury, 
and the Department of State. The group will work closely with the 
Inforrnation Comrnittee of the Information Infrastructure Task 
Force, which is responsible for coordinating Administration 
telecommunications and inforrnation policy. It will seek input 
from the private sector both informally and through groups like 
the National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee and 
the U.S. Advisory Committee on the National Information 
Infrastructure.

The working group will develop and irnplement Administration 
policies on encryption. Advanced encryption technology can provide 
better privacy protection for individuals, but can also thwart 
efforts by law enforcement agencies to use wiretaps to catch and 
prosecute criminals. The working group will attempt to reconcile 
the need of privacy and the needs of law enforcement. Last April, 
the Administration announced development of the Clipper chip, a 
new computer chip designed to provide better telecomrnunications 
security without compromising the ability of law enforcement to do 
wiretaps. The working group will work with industry to develop and 
apply technologies like the Clipper Chip, to evaluate possible 
alternatives to the Clipper Chip, and to review and refine 
Administration policies regarding encryption as developments 
warrant.

In addition, the working group will coordinate Administration 
policies regarding digital telephony. As more and more telephone 
companies install high-speed, digital communications links, it 
becomes more and more difficult for law enforcement agencies to 
conduct wiretaps. The working group will work with industry to 
ensure that new digital telecommunications systems are designed in 
a way that ensures that do not prevent courtauthorized wiretaps.

For more information on the interagency working group, contact 
Matt Heymann at NIST Public Affairs (301/975-2758), Mike Nelson at 
OSTP (202/395-6175), or Ray Mislock at NSC (202/395-4614).