Phil Zimmermann, programmer, computer scientist and cryptographer. He developed the Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) software, which became the battle line for the cypherpunk movement.
Since winning the Second World War by secretly deciphering German Enigma messages, the Five Eyes secret services have been intent on secretly deciphering all communications everywhere. PGP, which uses public-key encryption and the web of trust for privacy, signing and non-repudiation of messages, disrupted this vision.
There was quite a spat, with Zimmermann finally winning out by publishing the source code as a book and using constitutional amendments for his defence. This high-court win changed everything. Citizens were allowed to use encryption to maintain their privacy, but the secret services were allowed to circumvent it where they could.
Phil’s view? “The natural flow of technology tends to move in the direction of making surveillance easier”, and “the ability of computers to track us doubles every eighteen months”.