BKPRIVLN.RVW   980301

"Privacy on the Line", Whitfield Diffie/Susan Landau, 1998,
0-262-04167-7, U$25.00
%A   Whitfield Diffie
%A   Susan Landau
%C   55 Hayward Street, Cambridge, MA   02142-1399
%D   1998
%G   0-262-04167-7
%I   MIT Press
%O   U$25.00 +1-800-356-0343 fax: +1-617-625-6660 manak@mit.edu
%P   342 p.
%T   "Privacy on the Line: The Politics of Wiretapping and Encryption"

This seems to be the year for privacy.  Hard on the heels of
"Technology and Privacy" (cf. BKTCHPRV.RVW), "The Electronic Privacy
Papers" (cf. BKELPRPA.RVW), and the related "Borders in Cyberspace"
(cf. BKBRDCYB.RVW) comes this volume.

Given the emotional content with which the encryption debate has been
loaded in recent years, it is important that the introduction, in
chapter one, is a neutral and even-handed look at the background of
the discussion, presenting the issues on both sides, although little
of the case for either.  Specific references may be from the United
States, but the arguments made are generic enough to be considered by
all audiences.  Chapter two gives an overview of cryptography, which
is, of course, excellent.  Not only does it explain the importance of
keys and cryptographic strength, but it also gives insightful analysis
into business and social factors in the development of the field. 
Cryptography and public policy, in chapter three, is restricted to
developments within (and related to) the US, but looks at all types of
issues, both technical and not.  Chapter four discusses national
security with a quick but clear and thorough overview of the various
aspects of intelligence gathering, particularly communications
intelligence.  There is also brief mention of information warfare. 
Much of the heat in the current debate about encryption restrictions
involves law enforcement.  (References are frequently made to drug and
child pornography rings.)  Therefore, the brevity of chapter five is
disappointing.  The content, however, is not.  It builds a solid
framework for the topic, and notes an instructive difference in
effectiveness between wiretaps and other electronic bugs.  Chapter six
is again specific to US history, reviewing activities both in support,
and destructive, of privacy.

Chapter seven deals specifically with wiretapping technology,
activities, and legality in the US.  Much of the material in the
chapter has been at least touched on previously, and there is
noticeable duplication.  There is less duplication in chapter eight's
discussion of the current communications scene, although little new
material.  The same is not the case with current cryptography in
chapter nine, providing brief backgrounds of the myriad efforts being
made to disseminate and suppress encryption capabilities.  The
conclusion, in chapter ten, seems to come down on the side of opening
encryption development and distribution.

An extensive, possibly exhaustive, bibliography is a major resource in
the book.

The thorough research, even tone, and informed analysis make this work
an excellent foundation for discussion.  It does not, however, provide
much in the way of direction.  That the authors should tend to support
the dropping of restrictions on cryptography is not surprising, but
such support is neither strong nor impassioned.

copyright Robert M. Slade, 1998   BKPRIVLN.RVW   980301