The Clipper Chip is a cryptographic device being promoted by the U.S. government. Its purported advantage is that it provides a standard for securing private voice communication. With Clipper, however, the government has the opportunity to obtain decryption keys that are held in escrow by two government agencies. Although the Clipper proposal requires legal authorization to obtain these keys, the history of illegal domestic surveillance by Federal agencies makes the existence of this "back-door" decryption channel a cause for concern.

CPSR has been a leader in the opposition to the Clipper Chip. In early 1994, CPSR launched an electronic petition drive to oppose Clipper, which eventually attracted over 50,000 signatures.

For more information on the Clipper Chip and related proposals, please see the following:

• Clipper IV Statement
• CPSR Clipper Statement
• Info on Mykotronx recieved from anonymous source 5.93
• Clipper FAQ - A set of "frequently asked questions" about the Clipper Chip
• CPSR Clipper letter - A letter to President Clinton signed by more than 40 cryptography and computing experts opposing Clipper, January 24, 1994
• CPSR's 1994 Clipper petition
• CPSR Factsheet: Clipper Chip
• Marc Rotenberg's testimony before Markey committee

Resources

• AT&T decription of the Clipper Chip technology
• Vint Cerf letter - A letter by Dr. Vinton G. Cerf to the Committee on Science, Space and Technology, Subcommittee on Technology, Environment, and Aviation, House of Representatives
• "Questions and answers about the Clinton Administration's encryption policy" - Report by the administration, February 4, 1994
• Digital Privacy and Security Working Group letter to Clinton - Letter sent by a coalition of over 50 communications and computer companies and associations, and consumer and privacy advocates to President Clinton concerning cryptography policy, December 6, 1993
• Interagency Working Group announcement - February 1994 announcement of the formation of an interagency group to address data security issues like encryption and digital telephony
• "The Clipper Chip: A technical summary" - paper by Clipper proponent Dorothy Denning, revised April 21, 1993
• Whitfield Diffie testimony - presentation before Congressman Boucher's committee on "The impact of a secret cryptographic standard on encryption, privacy, law enforcement and technology," May 11, 1993
• "Authorization procedures for release of encryption key components" - U.S. Department of Justice, February 4, 1994
• RIN 0693-AB19 - Approval of Federal Information Processing Standards Publication 185, Escrowed Encryption Standard (EES): 59 FR 5997
• Vice President Gore's statement about Clipper - February 4, 1994
• NIST answers to questions from Jim Bidzos
• NIST cryptography resolutions - Computer System Security and Privacy Advisory Board, June 4, 1993
• Crypto Experts letter
• "NSA seeks one-year delay in Clipper FOIA Case" - Press release from David Sobel, Legal Counsel for CPSR, on the NSA's response to CPSR's request under the Freedom of Information Act,
• Attorney General Reno announcement of key escrow agencies
• SKIPJACK Review - an interim report on the SKIPJACK algorithm by Ernest F. Brickell, Sandia National Laboratories; Dorothy E. Denning, Georgetown University; Stephen T. Kent, BBN Communications Corporation; David P. Maher, AT&T; and Walter Tuchman, Amperif Corporation; July 28, 1993
• Harris statement on export regulations - Statement by Dr. Martha Harris, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs, on the State Department's new export regulations, February 4, 1994
• White House statement on encryption review
• White House fact sheet on public encryption management
• CPSR has a fact sheet on Clipper to help you understand the issues.

Outside Links

• EPIC
  The Electronic Privacy Information Center.

  THE FUND FOR CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT

  The Fund for Constitutional Government is a publicly supported, charitable, nonprofit corporation established in 1974 to expose and correct corruption in the federal government and other major national institutions through research and public education.

  The Computers, Freedom and Privacy Video Library

  Educational videos and resources about human liberties and freedoms in the information age.

  The Loka Institute

  A public affairs research and advocacy organization concerned with the social, political, and environmental repercussions of science and technology.

  Privacy International

  Privacy International was formed in 1990 as a watchdog on surveillance by governments and corporations.

  PRIVACY Forum

  The Internet PRIVACY Forum is a moderated digest for the discussion and analysis of issues relating to the general topic of privacy (both personal and collective) in the "information age" of the 1990's and beyond.

  Dataveillance - Roger Clarke

  A page dedicated to data or information privacy-- the interest an individual has in controlling, or at least significantly influencing, the handling of data concerning him or herself.

  ACM Report on U.S. Crypto Policy

  The ACM, founded in 1947, is a 85,000 member non-profit educational and scientific society dedicated to the development and use of information technology, and to addressing the impact of that technology on the world's major social challenges.

  The Center for Democracy and Technology

  The Center For Democracy and Technology is a non-profit public interest organization based in Washington DC. The Center's mission is to develop and advocate public policies that advance constitutional civil liberties and democratic values in new computer and communications technologies.

  Office of Technology Assessment

  The Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) was established by Congress in 1972 to provide congressional committees with analyses of emerging, difficult, and often highly technical issues.

  White House Office of Science and Technology Policy

  The Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) provides expert advise to the President in all areas of science and technology.

  The FCC

  The home page of the Federal Communications Commission

  National Science and Technology Council Planning Document

  The Committee on Information and Communications of President Clinton's National Science and Technology Council recently published their strategic implementation plan entitled "America in the Age of Information". In it, six strategic areas are listed to focus interagency information and communications R&D efforts to make them "maximally responsive to national and mission agency goals".

Updated on Oct. 14, 1998