Patrick’s Rants

In a move that appears to tell citizens that only criminals use encryption software a Minnesota appeals court allowed the fact that a man convicted of inappropriate acts with a minor had PGP encryption software on his computer to be used against him. In the decision, the appeals court allowed use of encryption software to be used against the defendant. It was not whether he used the software to hide his illegal behavior but whether he had software that could.
If you are online and do any kind of banking, shopping and even some web based email systems you use encryption. It is identified by the https:// protocol in the browser address bar and the lock icon at the bottom of the browser window. It is this type of evidence that appears to have been used against the defendant in this case. While it is not what he is convicted of, encryption software is legal, it is used as an indication that he had “something to hide”, just like a lock on your front door would be an indication that you have “something to hide”.
Encryption is used in many industries and in some it is even required. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) for insurance companies, and the Gramm Leach Bliley Act for financial and just about any other company that can sort of be considered financial require that non public information is protected and safeguarded. This is why the doctor’s office requires more signatures than ever before and why credit card companies, your bank, and your tax preparer send annual privacy disclosures. Interestingly, any of these companies using encryption to protect your information from the likes of identity thieves could be seen as having “something to hide” and as a corrolary to the ruling if you have something to hide then you must be doing something illegal.