This article has been nominated to be checked for its neutrality. Discussion of this nomination can be found on the talk page.

Key escrow (also known as a fair cryptosystem) is an arrangement in which the keys needed to decrypt encrypted data are held in escrow by a third party, so that someone else can obtain them to decrypt messages. Image File history File links Unbalanced_scales. ... Encrypt redirects here. ... This article is about the legal arrangement. ...

The technical problem is a largely structural one since access to protected information must be provided only to the intended recipient and at least one third party. The third party should be permitted access only under carefully controlled conditions, as for instance, a court order. Thus far, no system design has been shown to meet this requirement fully on a technical basis alone. All proposed systems also require correct functioning of some social linkage, as for instance the process of request for access, examination of request for 'legitimacy' (as by a court), and granting of access by technical personnel charged with access control. All such linkages / controls have serious problems from a system design security perspective. A court order is an official proclamation by a judge (or panel of judges) that defines the legal relationships between the parties before the court and requires or authorizes the carrying out of certain steps by one or more parties to a case. ...

On a national level, this is controversial in many countries due to technical mistrust of the security of the escrow arrangement (due to a long history of less than adequate protection of others' information by assorted organizations, public and private, even when the information is held only under an affirmative legal obligation to protect it from unauthorized access), and to a mistrust of the entire system even if it functions as designed. Thus far, no key escrow system has been designed which meets both objections and nearly all have failed to meet even one. For the Wikipedia policy regarding controversial issues in articles, see Wikipedia:Guidelines for controversial articles. ... Public is of or pertaining to the people; belonging to the people; relating to, or affecting, a nation, state, or community; opposed to private; as, the public treasury, a road or lake. ... Privacy has no definite boundaries and it has different meanings for different people. ...

See also

• Cryptography
• Key management
• Clipper chip

The German Lorenz cipher machine, used in World War II for encryption of very high-level general staff messages Cryptography (or cryptology; derived from Greek κρυπτός kryptós hidden, and the verb γράφω gráfo write or λεγειν legein to speak) is the study of message secrecy. ... In cryptography, key management includes all of the provisions made in a cryptosystem design, in cryptographic protocols in that design, in user procedures, and so on, which are related to generation, exchange, storage, safeguarding, use, vetting, and replacement of keys. ... The Clipper chip is a chipset that was developed and promoted by the U.S. Government as an encryption device to be adopted by telecommunications companies for voice transmission. ...

External links

• The risks of key escrow

This article was originally based on material from the Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, which is licensed under the GFDL. This article does not cite any references or sources. ... “GFDL” redirects here. ...