Dissertation Research: Building the European Trust Infrastructure: An Ethnography of Lawyers, Scientists, and Regulators

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

The recent explosion of global computer networks, and the ensuing pressure to rapidly establish the legal, technological, and regulatory basis for global electronic commerce, is bringing about the redefinition of time-tested legal and social instruments of exchange, such as signatures and money. This project documents the construction of the European electronic security infrastructure by an interdisciplinary collaboration of cryptologists, lawyers, and regulators. The methodology to be employed is ethnography informed by the concerns of critical theory. The research involves interviews with cryptologists, lawyers, and regulators who are currently working in this area. Areas of concern to be explored include: authentication technologies, awareness of litigation and legislative initiatives, and experience of using authentication technologies. The investigator, in addition to gathering and analyzing interview data, will also examine scientific papers, conference proceedings, manuals, patents, and other written indicia of contemporary expert thinking about security concerns. The objective of this research is to broaden public discourse over electronic security from its current narrow focus on privacy and to improve how cryptology is conceived and engaged.