C. PROTECTION OF PRIVACY
Concerns about privacy and unauthorized access to our private transactions are slowing the development of the Internet. Newspapers and magazines want increased privacy and security over the Internet and complain about the chilling effect on electronic speech created by the current lack of privacy. (Ryan Alan Murr, Privacy and Encryption in Cyberspace: First Amendment Challenges to ITAR, EAR, and Their Successors, 34 San Diego L. Rev. 1401, 1402 (Summer 1997).) Transactions and conversations that were once face-to-face and private are now taking place at a distance over computers and phone lines vulnerable to interception from any computer hacker. (Id.) Electronic communications are now widely used in the private sector and have become an central element of the global marketplace.
The different laws concerning privacy over the Internet presents a problem for global information flow because information flow defies national jurisdiction.Security and privacy are special concerns on the Internet because messages, en route to their final destination, frequently pass through computer systems operated by private individuals, educational institutions, government agencies, or public interest organizations. (Id. at 1403.) During transmission, electronic messages can be easily intercepted, read, and even altered. Moreover, with the increasing interconnectedness of computer systems, sensitive information like customer data, financial statements, research results, employment records, medical histories, and tax returns are vulnerable to interception, alteration or unauthorized disclosure. (Id.) Through the use of encryption, communication and information stored and transmitted on the Internet can be protected against interception.