Legal Definitions - coded communications

Coded communications refers to messages that have been intentionally altered or disguised using a specific system, making them unreadable or incomprehensible to anyone who doesn't possess the unique method or "key" needed to decode them. The primary purpose is to keep the information private, secure, or secret from unauthorized individuals.

• Example 1: Imagine two corporate executives discussing a highly sensitive merger agreement through an end-to-end encrypted messaging application. The messages they exchange appear as scrambled, meaningless text to anyone who might intercept them, such as a hacker or a competitor.

  Explanation: The encryption technology acts as the "code" or "cipher," transforming the readable text into an unintelligible format. Only the sender and intended recipient, who possess the correct digital "keys" within their devices, can decrypt and read the original message, thus making it a coded communication.

• Example 2: During World War II, a resistance fighter sends a message to an allied intelligence agency using a pre-arranged substitution cipher. Instead of writing "Attack at dawn," they might write "Xqqfhy qf gqym," where each letter has been systematically replaced by another according to a secret pattern known only to the sender and receiver.

  Explanation: The substitution cipher is the "code" that makes the message unreadable to anyone without the specific "key" (the pattern of letter replacements). Without this key, the message appears as random letters, effectively hiding its critical military instruction.

• Example 3: A research and development team at a technology company uses a specific internal codename, "Project Chimera," in all their communications regarding a groundbreaking new product. To an outsider, "Project Chimera" might sound like a fantasy game or a biological experiment, but within the company, it specifically refers to their upcoming virtual reality headset.

  Explanation: While not a cryptographic cipher, the codename "Project Chimera" functions as a coded communication. Its true meaning is intentionally obscured from those outside the team. Only individuals with the internal "key" – the knowledge of what "Chimera" represents within that company's context – can understand the actual subject of the communications.