ABSTRACT: There is little doubt that cryptographic technology (e.g., hardware and software) is now cheap and readily available, and is starting to be incorporated into the information infrastructure of our lives. There will be many implications for this, but I have strong doubts that individuals will start to use cryptography in any significant amount. The reason seems obvious to me - how many PINs and passwords have you already been asked to remember, and how many new ones are you willing to manage? The alternative is to use a universal digital ID (digital certificate), but this carries huge privacy concerns that are becoming ever more obvious. I therefore believe that we WILL have an abundance of cryptography in our lives, but almost none of it will really serve the needs of individuals, and almost none of it will be visible (I'll give some examples). The question then becomes whether cryptographic abundance is a good thing or a bad thing, and of course depends on your point of view.
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