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‘From dark art to the everyday’ : American encryption policy 1950-2020
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Mainwaring, Sarah (2021) ‘From dark art to the everyday’ : American encryption policy 1950-2020. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.
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Official URL: http://webcat.warwick.ac.uk/record=b3759899
Abstract
In 2021, we are more reliant on technology than ever before. Through smartphones, contactless bank transactions and internet-connected lightbulbs, electronic networks surround us. While we understand a great deal about this technology, we have yet to consider one aspect: encryption. Consigned to mathematical textbooks, the importance of encryption is not widely understood. This thesis begins that conversation. Tracing how encryption technologies have been used and designed in the United States of America over the last seventy years, it encourages us to recognise the socio-political and historical dimensions of this mathematical subject. Doing so, it argues encryption policies since 1952 have been a constant battle for control. While the dominant viewpoint concluded that the American Government, through the NSA, sought to maintain their control over encryption and limit individual freedom and privacy, this thesis offers an alternative perspective. While privacy and security debates occupied public discourse, a hidden contest for control was raging – between the private sector and the international market, and the American Government. Over time, Government authority and influence over encryption was reduced not by privacy campaigners, but by market forces and industry officials.
Recognising this complexity highlights the role of the private sector. In the 1950s, the National Security Agency was the sole authority for encryption policies. Designing military and government devices, radios and typewriters were secure enough while also being easy to use and lightweight enough for military campaigns. As the market for encryption technologies grew, the telecommunications sector became important players in national policymaking. Doing so, they challenged government authority and provided an alternative source of protection. We explore this theme throughout this thesis, asking who the legitimate or responsible authority over encryption should be.
Drawing on hundreds of thousands of documents and hours of discussion with government practitioners, technical experts and industry officials, this is among the first examples of a socio-historical study of the technical subject of encryption. Offering fresh interpretation of historic examples alongside previously unavailable case studies, it suggests that encryption policy is a constant space of compromise and balance between economic and security interests. In 2020, this debate remains alive, with global social media companies sometimes refusing to help law enforcement investigate paedophilia and child sexual abuse online. This thesis offers a path beyond stalemates, arguing that a middle way can be found between public safety, individual privacy and economic efficiency.
Item Type: | Thesis (PhD) | ||||
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Subjects: | J Political Science > JK Political institutions (United States) K Law [Moys] > KG Common Law, America Q Science > QA Mathematics > QA76 Electronic computers. Computer science. Computer software |
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Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | Data encryption (Computer science) -- History, Data encryption (Computer science) -- Government policy -- United States, Data encryption (Computer science) -- Law and legislation -- Unites States, Data encryption (Computer science) -- Political aspects -- Unites States | ||||
Official Date: | January 2021 | ||||
Dates: |
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Institution: | University of Warwick | ||||
Theses Department: | Department of Politics and International Studies | ||||
Thesis Type: | PhD | ||||
Publication Status: | Unpublished | ||||
Supervisor(s)/Advisor: | Aldrich, Richard J. (Richard James), 1961- ; Watson, Tim (Professor) | ||||
Sponsors: | Economic and Social Research Council (Great Britain) | ||||
Format of File: | |||||
Extent: | 226 leaves : illustrations | ||||
Language: | eng |
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