Skip to main content

Communications Privacy: Federal Policy and Actions

OSI-94-2 Published: Nov 04, 1993. Publicly Released: Nov 05, 1993.
Jump To:
Skip to Highlights

Highlights

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO examined whether federal policies negatively affect U.S. corporations' ability to protect themselves against economic espionage, focusing on: (1) the need for information privacy in computer and communications systems to prevent economic espionage; (2) federal agency authority to develop cryptographic standards for protection of sensitive, unclassified information and the actions and policies of various agencies regarding the selection of federal cryptographic standards; (3) the National Security Agency's (NSA) and the Department of State's export control policies for encryption-capable products and the industry's rationale for requesting liberalization of such controls; and (4) the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) proposed legislation regarding telephone systems that use digital communications technology.

Full Report

Office of Public Affairs

Topics

Baseline security controlsComputer networksComputer industryComputer securityComputer security policiesData encryptionEconomic espionageElectronic signaturesElectronic surveillanceExport regulationInformation systemsInternational tradeProprietary dataTelecommunications