NEGATIVE - DISADVANTAGE — PRIVACY HURTS SECURITY — LAW ENFORCEMENT AND CRIME DAMAGED 210

EXAMPLE: OTHER SOURCES OF INFORMATION

MOTOR VEHICLE AND DRIVER LICENSE INFORMATION IS OBTAINABLE FROM OTHER SOURCES, BUT IT IS NEEDED TO REMAIN OPEN TO PROTECT PUBLIC SAFETY

ROSEMARY ARMAO, Omaha World-Herald, January 13, 1999, SECTION;EDITORIAL; Pg. 23 TITLE: Danger in 'Privacy Hysteria' // acs-EE2001

Another irony: According to a study by Denver college students several years ago, the information on motor-vehicle records closed in Colorado was nearly all obtainable from other, public sources.

So, for the sake of a questionable privacy, we are giving up the protection that open, motor-vehicle records provided. Want to know if the bus driver who picks up your first-grader is a good driver? That's private in some states. The same goes for ambulance drivers and taxi drivers.

Are we sure that drunken drivers are being quickly removed from the road, as required by law? When police get into accidents, are they treated the same as regular citizens? That information is off limits.

GOVERNMENT SURVEILLANCE ONLY THREATENS THOSE WHO ARE TRYING TO COMMIT CRIMES

The New York Times, September 4, 1999, SECTION: Section A; Page 12; TITLE: Intrusions on Electronic Privacy // acs-EE2001

In trying to prevent criminals from using new electronic technologies in illegal activities, the Clinton Administration has been deaf to the privacy concerns of law-abiding citizens. The Justice Department argues that electronic surveillance by the Government would hurt only those involved in crime, not the law-abiding citizen. But erosions of privacy affect all Americans. As more people use computers and new technology to communicate and conduct business, balancing the need to protect electronic privacy against law enforcement requirements is crucial.

LAW ENFORCEMENT MUST HAVE SEARCH AND SEIZURE ACCESS TO ELECTRONIC MATERIALS IN ORDER TO INTERCEPT CRIME

Charles Barry Smith, Supervisory Special Agent/Unit Chief of the FBI's Digital Telephony and Encryption Policy Unit, 1999 / 2000; Journal of Legislation and Public Policy, "CURRENT U.S. ENCRYPTIONREGULATIONS: A FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT PERSPECTIVE," EE2001-hxm lxnx

The other area in which law enforcement is affected by encryption is search and seizure. Everyone is now using computers; paper files are disappearing. As a result, law enforcement must now seize more and more electronically stored, criminally related information being kept on hard drives, floppies, and other electronic storage devices. Therefore, law enforcement agencies need the ability to gain immediate access to the plaintext of those encrypted, criminally related  [*15]  communications or stored data files so we can carry out our public safety obligations, acting under the framework of the Fourth Amendment.