Crypto Anarchist: Phil Zimmerman

"When we exported 5,000 pages of PGP source code in a book through MIT Press in the 90s, we ran into some issues when people in other countries tried to use it. It turns out it's very hard to scan C source code via OCR because you can't use a dictionary for error correction. So what did we do? We wrote software that was specifically designed for OCR scanning of C source code and published it at the beginning of the book as a bootstrapping mechanism. It was shortly after this point that I received word that the intelligence agencies had realized they had lost the battle to stop the eport of strong cryptography to the world." - Phil Zimmerman. Phil Zimmermann is a renowned computer scientist and cryptographer, most famous for creating Pretty Good Privacy (PGP), the most widely used email encryption software in the world. In the context of crypto-anarchism, Zimmermann is celebrated for his dedication to privacy and civil liberties. He created PGP in 1991, amidst growing concerns over privacy due to the increasing use of the internet and electronic communication. His software allowed users to encrypt their emails, ensuring their content remained private and secure. Zimmermann’s work embodies the crypto-anarchist ethos of utilizing cryptographic technology to ensure individual privacy and freedom in the face of potential governmental and corporate surveillance. Despite facing a criminal investigation by the U.S. government for the exportation of cryptographic software, Zimmermann remained an advocate for privacy, continuing to innovate and educate on the importance of encryption and cybersecurity.