Cryptography, a mathematical science formerly devoted to providing confidentiality to diplomats and the military, has, in the last twenty-five years, evolved an ambitious research programme seeking to develop the mathematical tools required for securing a broad range of interactions over electronic networks e.g., electronic signatures, anonymous and untraceable cash, voting systems, and intellectual property marking mechanisms. While cryptographers and regulators alike have repeatedly argued that the development of such tools will play an essential role in securing network-based social relations, it is much less obvious which role exactly: encryption, while gathering much media attention is simply not a reality for the vast majority of computer users; fifteen years after its initial publication, most of David Chaum's brilliant and innovative work on electronic anonymity has failed to influence the development of the Internet; the market for electronic signature infrastructures (PKI) has been set to "explode". . . for the last ten years. The lesson here is simply that cryptography on the ground is vastly different from cryptography in the lab. I have been working to explore that gap, through long-term, empirical, cross-disciplinary research.

Blanchette, J.-F., " 'Dematerializing' written proof: French evidence law, cryptography, and the global politics of authenticity," Ph.D. thesis, Science and Technology Studies department, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, April 18 2002. Committee: Kim Fortun (advisor), Ron Eglash, Mike Fortun, Boleslaw Szymanski (external examiner).

Blanchette, J.-F., "Cryptology," in Censorship: A World Encyclopedia (ed. Derek Jones), vol. 1, pp. 603-604. London: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, 2001. [PDF preprint]

Blanchette, J.-F., review of Information Warfare and Security, Dorothy E. Denning (Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley, 1999). Ethics and Information Technology 1(4): 237-238. [PDF preprint]

Blanchette, J.-F., review of Privacy on the Line: The Politics of Wiretapping and Encryption, Whitfield Diffie and Susan Landau (Cambridge, Mass.: The MIT Press, 1998). Ethics and Information Technology 1(2): 163-166. [PDF preprint]

Blanchette, J.-F., "Les procédés cryptographiques de monnaie électronique: design, fonctionnalités et usages." Master's thesis, Département d'informatique et de recherche opérationelle, Université de Montréal, October 3 1997. Committee: Claude Crépeau (advisor), Gilles Brassard, François Major. [PDF]