Re: Newt's phone calls

[Dale Thorn <dthorn@gte.net>]

Clay Olbon II wrote:
> I just caught the news reports of Newt Gingrich's cell phone calls being
> taped by "a little old retired couple" with a scanner.  These were then
> given to a congressman, who gave them to a newspaper.
> The take on this that we won't hear is: "This is outrageous!  Why don't
> cell-phones offer encryption to ensure our privacy?"
> Unfortunately, I think crypto is still so far beneath the public
> consciousness that the obvious solution to these sorts of problems is
> ignored in favor of the "there oughta be a law" non-solution.  (Of course,
> in this case there is a law!) What I really hope this incident spawns is a
> market ...

I'm not sure what crypto will do to voice transmission, but from my
own personal example:  I just bought two Motorola portable phones
(46 mhz) with Secure Clear(r) voice scrambling.  On my AOR 8000
scanner, it sounds to my ears like very muffled Chinese.

The bad news is that when just one of these is talking to a "normal"
telephone, it cuts down a little on the clarity, and when two are
talking to each other, you have to speak very distinctly and not
quietly, to make out the softly-spoken passages.