Late last November, David Chaum received the Information Technology European Award for 1995. The prize, given for DigiCash's e-cash technology, consisted of a trophy plus 200,000 ecu (approximately US$250,000). Chaum is best known for the development of anonymous payment schemes that are becoming increasingly popular in Europe for everything from online commerce to highway toll systems.
At about the same time that Chaum received the prestigious award, Phil Zimmermann, inventor of the popular Pretty Good Privacy encryption program, sat in his Boulder, Colorado, home wondering whether the US government would make good on its threat to prosecute him for trafficking in munitions.
The contrast between a decorated cryptographer in Europe and one trying to avoid prosecution in the United States is more than curious.
It shows that governments, at least some governments, can be a force for progress in the crypto world. America's cyberlibertarians have been unrelenting in their opposition to any federal role in crypto policy. Free marketers argue simply that there is no place for government in the development of high-tech products. Cyberanarchists seem to doubt whether there is any role at all for government.
But the recent European experience should give pause to these allies in the battle for online privacy. Not only are European officials prepared to embrace technologies of privacy, they have mostly opposed US-inspired surveillance schemes such as the Clipper chip.
Two new reports reflect this. In Privacy-Enhancing Technologies: The Path to Anonymity, the Netherlands and the Canadian province of Ontario call for an exploration of new technologies to promote privacy. Similarly, Anitha Bondestam, director general of the Data Inspection Board of Sweden, writes in a report, "It is more important than ever to bring back anonymity and make more room for personal space." Boldly, she urges her colleagues sharply to limit the collection of personal data.
The reality of modern society is that government officials make decisions every day about the rights of citizens. The question is whether they favour proposals that respect privacy and personal dignity or not. Compared with governments that lack privacy officials, governments that have privacy officials have repeatedly acted in favour of privacy interests.
Viewed against this background, many of the European privacy regulations, often criticised by libertarians, should be seen for what they are - sensible responses of governments that value their citizens' privacy rights. In such societies, technical means to protect privacy will be adopted, not viewed with scepticism.
Are the European ideas perfect? Of course not. Are the Europeans doing a better job than the Americans of promoting the techn-ologies of privacy? Just ask David Chaum and Phil Zimmermann.
Marc Rotenberg is director of the Electronic Privacy Information Centre.