This text refers to items from 21 to 30.

1 _____ The technological developments of the last

decade have allowed us to use new forms of

communication (telefax, electronic data-traffic) on an

4 enormous scale. Our society is increasingly becoming

an information society, in which the availability of

information and the use of information channels have

7 become essential parts of societal intercourse.

_____ This technological development implies that

old ways of protecting data, which is vital to a

10 considerable section of our society, have become

inadequate. New ways must be found to guarantee

that data flow be secret, undamaged and/or

13 authenticated when necessary.

_____ The combination of advanced mathematical

techniques with the enormous growth of the

16 possibilities for automatic data-processing has

resulted in very strong systems of cryptography, that

is, systems that are powerful, sophisticated, and

19 virtually impregnable. Encryption, which in this study

will be understood to mean the automatic processing

of data in such a way as to make them

22 incomprehensible to third parties, therefore seems an

ideal solution for guaranteeing secrecy as well as

authentication and integrity of data in digital data25

exchange. Indeed, it is increasingly being used to that

purpose by a considerable part of our society.

_____ On the other hand, the use of encryption by

28 criminals, who will also increasingly make use of

technological developments, creates problems for the

investigation and finding of evidence by the judicial

31 authorities, owing to the same development of strong

cryptographic systems. Encryption can also threaten

the work of national security agencies.

Internet: <rechten.uvt.nl> (adapted).

Encryption means mechanical processing of data so as to turn them understandable to the...