What is happening in other jurisdictions?

There is very little evidence to date of consideration being given by other governments to the implications of TC on government-held information and processes. From the contacts we have made with various governments, the feedback we have received is that the issues are important, but that they have not begun to address them.

At this stage, the only country known to have publicly addressed policy issues related to TC and the integrity of government information is Germany. In March 2004, the German Federal Office of Information Technology released its Comments on the TCG and NGSCB in the Field of Trusted Computing [TCG is the Trusted Computing Group, an organisation that is working to promote the trusted computing specification] - which set out the government's requirements for the technology to meet if it is to be acceptable. These comments were taken into account in the drafting of some potential requirements for adoption in New Zealand, included Annex 2 to this paper.

New Zealand government officials are currently in the process of liaising with their colleagues internationally to find shared opportunities to develop appropriate collective government policies and positions on issues related to Trusted Computing.