Part I: Peter Wayner, Part II: James P. Lucier

Many individuals and businesses encode their computer files and transmissions to protect their privacy. Some lawmakers wish to require computer makers to provide the government with keys for decoding encrypted messages. In Part I of the following two-part viewpoint, Peter Wayner contends that the Framers of the Constitution knew that cryptography could stymie legal authorities and yet did not forbid it. In Part II, James P. Lucier argues that computer manufacturers must not be forced to turn their encryption code keys over to the government. Such an action would be a violation of the right to privacy, he asserts. Wayner is the author of Disappearing Cryptography. Lucier is the director of economic research at Americans for Tax Reform, a grassroots taxpayers’ movement.

As you...