Over the last yr , law enforcement officialsaround the worldhave beenpressing hardon the impression that without amagical “ backdoor”to reach the capacity of any and all encrypted communications by average people , they ’ll be totally incapable of fulfilling their obligation to investigate law-breaking and protect the public . EFF and many others have crowd back — including launching a petition with our friend toSaveCrypto , which this week reached 100,000 signatures , forcing a response from President Obama .
This is in increase to multiple findings that the government ’s “ going dark ” concern has proven completelyunfoundedin the past , along with former national security measure officersdisavowingthe care all together . And give law enforcement ’s continuing attacks on the populace ’s use of encryption , we think it ’s time for a speedy look at the longsighted custom of encryption usance by some average , and some not so average , Americans .
Of course most tribe know that cryptography is a decisive military instrument . In one ofNSA’sown publishedhistories[pdf ] of cryptology , the governance touts its significance , and many folks believe , reasonably , that cryptography played a important role in the Allies winning WWII . But practice of law enforcement official have recently made clear that they believe the authorities — and only the government — should do good from the routine use of the most secure encryption technologies . And they are currentlyendeavoringto restrict the widespread exercise of secure encoding technologies by the world .
But cryptography has always been far more than just a military or government tool . political science functionary were never the only ones expend prison term and resourcefulness using and developing Modern encryption techniques . Indeed , far from being something that has been apply only by reigning functionary , encryption has been used by civilian , businesspeople , and revolutionaries — including theFounding Fathersof the United States — for one C .
One of the earlier ( and still unsolved ) experience code works is theVoynich manuscript , an illustrated codex that has been atomic number 6 - go out to the early fifteenth century . And the first known English - speech communication book on cryptanalytics was published in 1641 , entitle Mercury , or The Secret and Swift Messenger byJohn Wilkins . By the 1800s , noesis of various ways to conceal the subject of a subject matter was widespread — and many ordinary individuals used cryptology for everything from business communication tolove letters .
We ’ve observe in former place how the Founding Fathers were big exploiter of encryption . You have probably listen of the code employed byPaul Revere — his “ one if by land , two if by sea ” lantern and the warning disseminated during his midnight ride that “ the Regulars [ were ] coming out , ” alerting the compound militia to the plan of attack of British forces before the fight of Lexington and Concord . But the leaders of the young country used not only codes and signals but alsociphersand other techniques to preserve the confidentiality of their communications should a shipment fall into the work force of the opposition .
As one law reviewpiecepublished during the first crypto wars noted , “ secret communication method acting ” were widely used in England in the 17th and eighteenth centuries and “ [ f]rom the offset of the American Revolution in 1775 until the borrowing of the United States Constitution , Americans used computer code , cipher and other secret writings to stir up , support , and carry to completion a rising against the British government . ” The article include legion exercise of civilians , business people , and revolutionaries using encoding to fix the contents of their communication theory . And no one questioned their right to do so — no matter the context or rationale behind their use of encoding .
One example is theContinental Congress , which recognized the need for secrecy and pass a resolving power regulate the manipulation cypher for all messages that could not otherwise be safely channelize . And many of the single founding fathers you likely learned about in course school day used encryption to secure their personal communication :
James Madison , the author of the Bill of Rights and the country ’s fourth president , was a bountiful substance abuser of enciphered communications — and legion example from his symmetricalness demonstrate that . The text ofone letterfrom Madison to Joseph Jones , a member of the Continental Congress from Virginia , dated May 2 , 1782 , was almost wholly encrypted via cipher . And on May 27 , 1789 , Madison sent apartially encrypted letterto Thomas Jefferson draw his programme to present aBill of Rights .
Thomas Jefferson , the principal generator of the Declaration of Independence and the country ’s third president , is know to be one of the most prolific users ofsecret communications method . He even devise his ownciphersystem — the “ wheel nil ” as named by Jefferson or the “ Jefferson saucer ” as it is now ordinarily referred . He also presented aspecial cipherto Meriwether Lewis for use in the Lewis and Clark Expedition .
Benjamin Franklininvented ciphers used by the Continental Congress and in 1748 , twelvemonth before the American Revolution , published a book on encryption save by George Fisher , The American Instructor .
George Washington , the first chair of the United States , frequently dealt with encryption and espionage event as the commandant of the Continental Army . He is known to have give his news officers detailed educational activity on methods for maintaining the secrecy of messages and for using decipherment to bring out British spies .
John Adams , the 2nd U.S. president , used a cipher provided by James Lovell — a member of the Continental Congress Committee on Foreign Affairs and an former advocate of cipher systems — for correspondence with his wife , Abigail Adams , while traveling .
John Jay , the first Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court , used ciphers for all diplomatical symmetry made while outside the United States . And John Jay ’s brother , Sir James Jay , invited a exceptional invisible ink , also known as sympathetic ink , and send a supply from London to both his brother and then - General Washington .
The leaning go on .
Our founding father were not using encryption as reigning governing official . They were subverter and activists . They were using encryption as a tool to fight for exemption from a inhibitory regulate body and to protect their symmetricalness from government snooping . And it is well document that many of them used encryption to protect the secrecy of not only their work - relate communications during the revolution , but also their personal letter of the alphabet throughout their lives .
And lots of other folks entirely outside of the government activity also used codebooks and other forms of former cryptographic technology to protect their business organization and personal communication — especially communicating air via mail or wire — since the founding of the United States . Yet , before 1960 , there is no evidence that the federal administration believed it should exercise its powers to restrict the consumption of encryption technology by private citizen .
Any proffer by governance officials that encoding is a dick that , until now , has been in the exclusive responsibility of the government is a misconception that promote an anti - concealment and anti - security order of business . encoding is — and has always been — a tool for everyone , research and deployed by the great unwashed from all walks of life for many aim , from concealing the contents of private erotic love letters to protecting breed market trades , diplomacy , or political activism . And given the mundane security breaches and rampant government activity surveillance we present today , ensuring the privacy and security of our private communication theory is as important now as ever — or even more so .
Please join us in acting toSaveCryptoand urge President Obama to commit to supporting strong steganography for everyone .
This postoriginally appear on the website of the Electronic Frontier Foundation , a non-profit-making governing body supporting user privacy , free expression , and founding .
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