Encryption > Resources

Encryption Resources

Encryption is a crucial feature of a safe and trustworthy Internet. Encryption keeps personal information safe and is also critical to national security, protecting society from terrorists, criminals, and hostile governments.

But encryption is under threat. Some people want to introduce flaws into encryption systems and this makes encryption less safe for everyone. See how we’re promoting and defending encryption around the world and find out how you can stand up for encryption in our resources section.

The Internet Society is part of the Global Encryption Coalition.
Find out how you can get involved.

Factsheets

Homomorphic Encryption: What Is It, and Why Does It Matter?
Learn about the concept of homomorphic encryption, its practicalities and implications, in order to make smart choices about this...
Factsheet: How Encryption Can Protect Advocacy Groups and Social Change Movements
Encryption is a tool designed to help Internet users keep their online data and communications private and secure. It plays...
Fact Sheet: Understanding Encryption: The Connections to Survivor Safety
For many survivors of domestic violence, sexual violence, stalking, and trafficking, having private and secure ways to communicate and...
Fact Sheet: Quantum Physics and Computing
A paper explaining how quantum computing and encryption are related.
Fact Sheet: Intermediaries and Encryption
Pressuring intermediaries to weaken security is not the answer to prevent harmful content online
Fact Sheet: Government Hacking
Government hacking is one of the approaches national security and law enforcement agencies use to obtain access to otherwise...
Fact Sheet: How Encryption Can Protect Journalists and the Free Press
Originally published: 26 March 2020Updated: 7 September 2022 Encryption is a tool designed to help Internet users keep their...
Fact Sheet: Machine-in-the-Middle Attacks
Originally published: 24 March 2020Updated: 8 September 2022 When using the Internet, we expect that our communications are confidential...
Fact Sheet: Ghost Proposals
What are “ghost” proposals and why should we care? At least one government has recently proposed that in order...
Fact Sheet: Client-Side Scanning
Originally published: 24 March 2020Updated: 2 September 2022 Encryption is a technology designed to help Internet users keep their...
Encryption: Essential for the LGBTQ+ Community
For some communities, like LGBTQ+ communities, encryption is especially crucial in keeping people safe both online and in real...
Policy Brief: Encryption
Encryption technologies enable Internet users to protect the confidentiality of their data and communications from unwanted observation and intrusion.

Info guides

Info Guide: For Youth by Youth: 3 Ways to ACT
Heading to a protest or just worried about snooping siblings? You definitely don’t want to be SMSing about it....
Virtual Schooling
Take a look through our back-to-school checklist that aims to help you, as a parent or guardian, make sure...
Working From Home
Originally published: 15 April 2020Updated: 9 September 2022 No matter where you are in the world, chances are you’ve...
Info Guide: 6 Ways “Lawful Access” Puts Everyone’s Security At Risk
What is encryption? Encryption is the process to scramble or hide information so it can only be read by...

Reports

Security Through Encryption and Despite Encryption: An (un)Achievable Outcome?
On 16 June 2021 we organised a roundtable to explore in greater detail how to apply the European Council’s...
The Economic Impact of Laws that Weaken Encryption
Editor’s note: The full report and the extracted executive summary are available in pdf format in English, French, Spanish,...
Traceability and Cybersecurity
Traceability, or the ability track down the originator of a particular piece of content or message, is at the...

Webcasts and Events

Archive of past encryption-related events.

Global Encryption Day 2022

Strong encryption keeps us safe online, and even offline. This Global Encryption Day, people around the world joined to protect this vital tool and to…

RightsCon 2022

Follow the Internet Society at the RightsCon and find out more about encryption and Internet shutdowns.

MozFest Panel: Building a movement to protect and defend our strongest security shield online

Why campaign for encryption? Governments worldwide are increasingly trying to ban or undermine encryption – a critical security tool that keeps people and countries worldwide…

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Open Letters, Statements and Submissions

Open letters, statements and submissions that the Internet Society has authored or contributed to.

Comments to EU on Digital Markets Act (DMA) and Interoperability of Encrypted Messaging, 11 March 2022

Global Encryption Day Statement, 21 October 2021

Open Letter to Members of UK Parliament: End-to-End Encryption Keeps Us Safe – Global Encryption Coalition, 15 June 2021

Mauritius IGF and Internet Society Response to Mauritius ICTA Consultation Paper, 21 May 2021

UK Online Public Safety Bill is trying to legislate the impossible – a safe Internet without strong encryption, 12 May 2021

EU Commission Recommendation on Ensuring Safety of Journalists in the European Union, 12 May 2021

CDT, GPD and Internet Society Reject Time-Worn Argument for Encryption Backdoors – Global Encryption Coalition, 30 October 2020

EDRi – Civil Society Views on Defending Privacy While Preventing Criminal Acts, 20 October 2020

Open Letter Against Lawful Access to Encrypted Data Act – Global Encryption Coalition, 7 July 2020

Open Letter Opposing EARN IT bill – Global Encryption Coalition, 6 March 2020

Concerns with Amendments to India’s Information Technology (Intermediaries Guidelines) Rules under the Information Technology Act, 9 January 2020

Open Letter: Facebook’s End-to-End Encryption Plans, 4 October 2019

LAC Technical Community Letter on Encryption, 24 October 2019

A Joint Call to G7 World Leaders for a Secure and Trusted Digital Economy, 23 August 2019

Statement on Government Action in Kazakhstan Regarding Encrypted Internet Traffic, 23 July 2019

Joint Call to G20 World Leaders for a Healthy Digital Society, 30 November 2018

Call for Australian Government to Abandon Plans to Introduce Legislation That Undermines Strong Encryption, 17 July 2018

Internet Society-Chatham House Roundtable on Encryption and Lawful Access, 19 April 2018

Secure the Internet: An Open Letter to the Leaders of the World’s Governments, 15 February 2016

Internet Society submission to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Protection and Promotion of the Right to Freedom of Expression and Opinion regarding the use of encryption and anonymity in digital communications, 10 February 2015

In the Press

Articles written by Internet Society staff.

From LGBT+ People to Journalists, Strong Encryption is Crucial for Making the Internet Safer for Everyone – Thomson Reuters Foundation News, 17 November, 2021
Encryption Protects the Marginalised – and It’s Under Threat – Computer Weekly, 14 October, 2021
If You See Something, Say Something – maskmatters.org, September 2021 (originally published in subscription-only publication)
I Confess I’ve Got Things to Hide – EurActiv, 19 August 2021
The Role of Encryption in Protecting LGBTQ+ Community Members – Dark Reading, 28 June 2021
The Online Safety Bill Puts the Security of All Citizens and Communities at Risk – The House, 15 June 2021
WhatsApp Complying with Traceability Will Create Technical Vulnerabilities that Can be Exploited – DataQuest India, 3 June 2021
The New IT Rules would undermine end-to-end encryption – CIOL, 2 June 2021
What Public Servants Need to Know About Securing their Communications – Apolitical, 6 May 2021
The False Promise of Lawful Access to Private Data – Wired, 16 May 2019
Laisser les Etats décrypter et filtrer Internet peut créer un préjudice pour les citoyens et l’économie (Allowing States to Decipher and Filter the Internet Can Harm Citizens and the Economy) – Le Monde, 16 May 2019

Blog Posts

Our latest blog posts on encryption.

Two Things the US Should Do to Protect the Internet and the Security of Billions of People Online

22 November 2022

A Safer Internet Starts with More Encryption

8 February 2022

UK Online Safety Bill Set to Weaken Encryption and Put UK Internet Users At Risk

19 January 2022

Global Encryption Day – A Worldwide Success!

4 November 2021

Global Encryption Day – Help us Champion Strong Encryption

19 October 2021

Advocacy Groups Must Stand Up for Encryption—While They Still Can

14 October 2021

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Technical Community Resources

Technical community initiatives that the Internet Society has contributed to or supported.

Let’s Encrypt: The Internet Society supports the Let’s Encrypt Initiative, which provides free certificates to websites for Transport Layer Security (TLS) and automates the process, making it easier and cheaper for websites to use TLS.
IAB Statement: Avoiding Unintended Harm to Internet Infrastructure, 4 September 2019
W3C: Securing the Web, 22 January 2015
Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory Technical Report: Keys Under Doormats: Mandating insecurity by requiring government access to all data and communications, 6 July 2015
IETF 2528: Pervasive Monitoring Is an Attack, May 2014
IAB Statement on Internet Confidentiality, 14 November 2014

Community Highlights

Activities and initiatives on encryption from our chapters, special interest groups (SIGs) and members around the world.

Brazilian Code of Criminal Procedure reform must not undermine encryption

28 June 2021

Four Internet Society chapters sign Global Encryption Coalition open letter urging Brazilian Code of Criminal Procedure reform not to undermine encryption

The Internet Society Brazil Chapter created a fact sheet explaining why encryption is essential for the LGBTQIA+ community

16 June 2021

Open Letter to the Portuguese Presidency of the European Union on the Freedom of Use of Encryption

14 April 2021

Signed by 12 European chapters of the Internet Society

Don’t Poke Holes in Our Digital Security Shield

13 April 2021

Lennart Schulze urged people to tell the EU that their narrative that ‘encryption harms kids’ isn’t correct. Encryption is foundational to security – and is key to keeping children and youth safe online.