The human population isn't doubling every 18 months, but the ability of computers to keep track of us is. Until recently, the biggest threat to privacy was Moore's law, a blind force carrying us to a dystopian future. Since 9/11, this force is guided and accelerated by deliberate policy. How do we get out of this mess?Monday, March 10, 2003
12:30-1:30 pm
Moot Court Room
Stanford University Law School
Lunch will be provided
All Welcome
About the Speaker
Philip R. Zimmermann is the creator of Pretty Good Privacy. For that, he was the target of a three-year criminal investigation, because the government held that US export restrictions for cryptographic software were violated when PGP spread all around the world following its 1991 publication as freeware. Despite the lack of funding, the lack of any paid staff, the lack of a company to stand behind it, and despite government persecution, PGP nonetheless became the most widely used email encryption software in the world. After the government dropped its case in early 1996, Zimmermann founded PGP Inc. That company was acquired by Network Associates Inc (NAI) in December 1997, where he stayed on for three years as Senior Fellow. In August 2002 PGP was acquired from NAI by a new company called PGP Corporation, where Zimmermann now serves as special advisor and consultant. Zimmermann currently is consulting for a number of companies and industry organizations on matters cryptographic.
He has received numerous technical and humanitarian awards for his pioneering work in cryptography. In 2001 Zimmermann was inducted into the CRN Industry Hall of Fame. In 2000 InfoWorld named him one of the Top 10 Innovators in E-business. In 1999 he received the Louis Brandeis Award from Privacy International, in 1998 a Lifetime Achievement Award from Secure Computing Magazine, and in 1996 the Norbert Wiener Award from Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility for promoting the responsible use of technology. He also received the 1995 Chrysler Award for Innovation in Design, and the 1995 Pioneer Award from the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Time Magazine also named Zimmermann one of the "Net 50", the 50 most influential people on the Internet in 1995.
Zimmermann is Chairman of the OpenPGP Alliance, serves on the Boards of Directors for Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility and Veridis, and is on the Advisory Boards for Anonymizer.com, Hush Communications, and Qualys.