Decoding poses problems

The National Security Agency’s ability to bypass encryption technology may someday cause a problem for all of us, one that we are not thinking about at the moment. For years, those in the elections business have looked forward to the time when we will be able to cast our votes simply by making a phone call or connecting electronically on the Internet, and making our choices digitally. It would provide a very efficient and quick way to cast our ballots and at the same time have them counted almost instantly.

The thought, of course, is that votes cast in that way will be digitally encrypted. Where will we be with regard to the secrecy of our individual votes when they will not really be secret if all the NSA has to do is to bypass this encryption technology and make nearly everyone’s secrets available for government consumption? My, my!

Tom Wilbur

Spokane