  urlLink Homeland Security and you PGP and other personal encryption tools were relegated to the hope chests of the paranoid, along with tinfoil hats and Area 51 travel guides. Widespread acceptance of encryption will finally come about as a reaction to institutionalized data voyeurism. Some will suggest that crypto be made illegal because it is antithetical to the spirit of Homeland Defense and perhaps a little bit subversive. People who hide things must have something to hide, right? Damn straight. urlLink Strong Crypto Use Only for the Paranoid?
...despite the noise from the crypto-anarchists, use of crypto does not make one "cool," it simply makes them prepared for the eventuality of having to handle sensitive data in a trustworthy fashion. In a world with a decreasing level of discretion, it also makes one polite. Appealing to paranoia may make good copy, but in the long run it will be the appeal to reasonable gentility that will justify the use of strong cryptographic protections in the next decade. 
