A major ongoing debate related to terrorism and the Internet is the question of encryption. Encryption is software technology that locks computerized information to keep it private. Only those with an "electronic key" can decipher the information.

On the one hand, encryption protects individual and corporate privacy and is a fundamental building block of electronic commerce. On the other hand, police and intelligence agencies oppose denying the government access to electronic information because terrorists and other criminals can use encryption technology to conduct illegal activities while avoiding government monitoring. World Trade Center bombing mastermind, Ramzi Ahmed Yousef, for example, utilized encryption technology in his foiled plot to blow up 11 U.S. airliners in the Far East.

Writing in The Journal of Information Policy, Attorney General Janet Reno said, "The potential harm to public safety and national security from the widespread distribution of encryption is already apparent. We have begun to encounter encryption in criminal cases. More and more frequently, criminals are encrypting data on their computers.... Terrorists in New York City were plotting to bomb the United Nations Building, the Lincoln and Holland Tunnels, and the main federal building. Court-ordered electronic surveillance enabled the FBI to disrupt the plot, and the evidence obtained was used to convict the conspirators.... We must work quickly, and together, to develop global solutions that will promote privacy and commerce, yet protect us all."

Citing national security concerns, the Administration has restricted U.S. exports of encryption software, thus denying American companies the ability to fully compete with foreign manufacturers in the market for encryption technology. Citing privacy issues, many in the private sector and in Congress oppose the Administration's export restrictions as well as the Administration's efforts to gain access to encrypted information.

The Administration's position was strengthened in December 1998 when the 33 members of the Wassenaar Arrangement, a multilateral export-control group, reached an international agreement that places new restrictions on the exporting of encryption software and hardware. The new restrictions are expected to help U.S. companies compete with their counterparts abroad.

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