Privacy is more important than you think

In 1991, Phil Zimmermann created Pretty Good Privacy (PGP), a cryptographic program that for the first time gave the average person near-military-grade encryption. Over the years, PGP's source code was released and eventually an open standard was born: OpenPGP. This paved the way for a host of open source products that still provide some of the best cryptography available.

Throughout the history of PGP, and encryption in general, there have been numerous critics who have promoted the theory that only those with something sinister to hide have a reason to use such strong encryption. Shortly after its initial development, Zimmermann became the target of a U.S. government investigation when PGP found its way outside the U.S. in violation of laws prohibiting the export of such strong encryption.

There are actually many reasons why someone should use encryption, especially in the context of digital communications. While many people think of email as something relatively private and secure, with a few exceptions, nothing could be further from the truth.