On the security of e-mails

[Sergio Brandano <sb@dcs.qmw.ac.uk>]

 I would like to raise the problem of the security of electronic
 mail. The problem popped into my mind a while ago, while reading
 about Italian legislation on the privacy and, in particular, of
 paper mail. I always wanted to draw the issue to the attention of the
 ``hi spheres'', but I am now in the UK, and the whole thing went into
 the limbo. The problem is simply as follows: there is no legislation
 that enforces the privacy of electronic mail. On the practical side,
 there is no software method currently implemented at large that
 allows the receiver, and only the receiver, to read his/her own mail.
 The secure transmission of mail is part of the whole process.
 The similar issue can easily be extended to the Internet, where sites
 (from the very client to the very server) can record your preferences,
 as if there were a big brother that spies on you and writes all down.
 An immediate consequence of it are all the SPAM mail selling
 financial services...

 Sergio