Cryptographic imaginaries and the networked public

Sarah Myers West

Internet Policy Review: Journal on Internet Regulation, 2018, vol. 7, issue 2, 1-16

Abstract: This paper interrogates discourses associated with encryption in contemporary policy debates. It traces through three distinct cryptographic imaginaries – the occult, the state, and democratic values – and how each conceptualises what encryption is, what it does, and what it should do. Situating each imaginary in time through historical research, I consider how they foreground distinct configurations of power and authority. It concludes by describing the development of a new cryptographic imaginary, one which sees encryption as a necessary precondition for the formation of networked publics.

Keywords: Encryption; Privacy; Security; History; Information control (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:zbw:iprjir:214057

DOI: 10.14763/2018.2.792

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