burden of proof / keys or plaintext (Re: US Plans for Decryption Orders)

[Ben Laurie]

adam@cypherspace.org wrote:
> 
> Ben writes:
> > > Brian: I have been puzzled by the correspondence on UK-crypto about the
> > > decryption order provisions of the draft UK bill. Some people seem to be
> > > objecting to *any* police access to encrypted documents.
> >
> > I don't think that's true: the objections have been to access to keys.
> 
> I think the distinction between keys and plaintext is fairly technical
> and not the real issue.  The real issue is the burden of proof.

I think the distinction is very important, but I do agree that the
burden of proof issue is more important. I had my security hat on
instead of my civil rights hat when I wrote that (and of course from a
security point of view a key is far more important than a plaintext).

Cheers,

Ben.

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