The Clipper Chip Controversy - Essay Example

The clipper managed to perform the above task with the help of certain numerical keys. Controversy sprung from the fact that the US government sought to retain exclusive but regulated knowledge of such algorithms. That way, the government could eavesdrop on any conversation it considered suspect. However, this would only be possible with a nod from the courts. As it happened, from ordinary citizens through business people to senior military personnel, virtually everyone had an opinion on the issue.

On one hand, there were civil libertarians glibly expressing their fear of the technology being used to aid a big brother regime that would easily stifle freedom of speech. On the other, cogent arguments in favor of keeping an eye and ear on the criminal activity were made. This paper endeavors to present arguments on both sides of the divide all through to the final part of the debacle. The privacy constituency rooted its opposition to the clipper on the way it was envisioned to operate. . stance if an ordinary citizen happened to stumble upon damaging information about the government, it was an act in futility for him or her to attempt to pass an encrypted dossier to someone in the media.

The government’s operatives would work relentlessly to intercept it before some loudmouth spilled the beans if it (the government) knew about the leak. In such situations, no one was willing to tell the truth about anyone because the risk of being caught would be unbearable. Similarly, it is quite thinkable that the government would use its backdoor privileges to access information otherwise supposed to be confidential about political competitors. In short, the charge from this end was that the chances of a regime turning rogue and harassing people for having unfavorable opinions, are exceptionally high with the clipper chip.

The Clinton Administration countered this line of reasoning with a poignant statement that read; unfortunately, the same encryption technology that can help Americans protect business secrets and personal privacy can also be used by terrorists, drug dealers and other criminals (Lewis 26). Even during those pre-9/11 days, it was easy to see how a determined and sophisticated terrorist could benefit from access to encryption technology that no man, woman or spirit can penetrate. Plans to smuggle would-be murderers, take flight lessons, hijack airplanes and crash them into skyscrapers would be swapped across cyberspace without detection.

Although the usefulness of the clipper in matters of defense is somewhat clear, its inadequacy is even clearer. Thoughtful opponents of the clipper observed no criminals or terrorists smart enough to use a system to use data encryption would be dumb enough to use