Resource Library

Everyone should have access to an open and trusted Internet.
Read our reports, papers, and other documents for insight and vision on how we can get there.

Action Plan 2021

The roadmap for our work ahead – let’s join together to support our vision that the Internet is for everyone.

Impact Report 2020

Some of our important work in 2020, highlighting how our community has worked together to to build, promote and defend the Internet.

Global Internet Report (GIR)

From trust to consolidation, access to sustainability, a deep look at the forces shaping our digital future.

Policy Briefs

Our perspective on critical Internet issues, including community networks, encryption, open Internet standards, Internet Exchange Points, and more.

Intermediary Liability Survey: Latin America

This report is a product of a crowdsourcing exercise designed to map current existing intermediary liability regimes in Latin American countries. Such an exercise was conducted with the full support ...

Internet Way of Networking Use Case: Intermediary Liability
Intermediary liability protection and the Internet Way of Networking ...
Internet Way of Networking Use Case: Interconnection and Routing
How regulatory policy on routing and interconnection, and reduced autonomy of operators impact the Internet Way of Networking ...
The Internet Way of Networking: Defining the critical properties of the Internet
To sustain the Internet’s value for our future, we need to recognize and protect what makes it unique ...
Internet Impact Assessment Toolkit: Introduction
The Internet Way of Networking is a positive framework that lets us test whether new ideas support the best potential of the Internet ...
The Impact of Internet Access in Indigenous Communities in Canada and the United States
This report provides an overview of findings to date on the impacts of the Internet in Indigenous communities in Canada and the United States ...
Statement to U.S. Congress Hearing on “Addressing the Urgent Needs of Our Tribal Communities”
When we can bring broadband to the most remote and hard-to-connect communities, we pave the way for other rural communities to find connectivity solutions ...
Anchoring the African Internet Ecosystem
Lessons from Kenya and Nigeria’s Internet Exchange Point Growth ...
Explainer: What is Eighty For Africa?

Like buying your food locally, and reducing how much you fly, getting your digital content locally also reduces the strain on the system. It allows the Internet to function more ...

Explainer: What is an Internet Exchange Point (IXP)?

An IXP is essential technical infrastructure where networks come together to connect and exchange Internet traffic.

Some of the types of networks that connect to exchange traffic are: Internet service ...

Explainer: What is Internet Peering?

In many parts of the world, connecting to the Internet is slow and expensive. Peering – exchanging traffic between networks – can help address this.

When you hit send on ...

Fact Sheet: Internet Way of Networking
We believe the Internet is for everyone, but it’s not just our privilege to use. It’s our responsibility to improve it, fulfilling the Internet’s potential as an instrument of opportunity ...

Archives

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 someone with the means (or keys) to return it to ...

The Trust Opportunity: Exploring Consumer Attitudes to the Internet of Things

This new research from Consumers International and the Internet Society explored consumer perceptions and attitudes towards trust, security and the privacy of consumer Internet of Things (IoT) devices.

The survey ...

The economics of the security of consumer-grade IoT products and services
Security is often lacking in consumer IoT devices: an analysis of 10 of the most common types of consumer devices found that 70% contained serious vulnerabilities ...
2018 Online Trust Audit and Honor Roll

The Online Trust Audit & Honor Roll assesses nearly 1,200 organizations, recognizing excellence in online consumer protection, data security, and responsible privacy practices. This 10th annual audit of more than 1,200 predominantly consumer-facing ...

Best Practices: Infrastructure Security
  1. Optimize TLS implementation using information gleaned from public tools. This includes eliminating use of insecure ciphers and older, insecure protocols as well as vulnerabilities to the POODLE and ROBOT ...
Best Practices: Privacy

  • Make sure the privacy statement has a link and is easily discoverable from the home page.
  • Place the revision date of the statement at the top ...
DNS Privacy Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Almost every time we use an Internet application, it starts with a Domain Name System (DNS) transaction to map a human-friendly domain name into a set of IP addresses that ...
IPv6 Security for IPv4 Engineers
This document provides an overview of IPv6 security that is specifically aimed at IPv4 engineers and operators. Rather than describing IPv6 in an isolated manner, it aims to re-use as ...
Introduction to DNS Privacy
Almost every time we use an Internet application, it starts with a Domain Name System (DNS) transaction to map a human-friendly domain name into a set of IP addresses that ...
IPv6 Security Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

The Internet Society recognises that global deployment of the IPv6 protocol is paramount to accommodate the present and future growth of the Internet. Given the scale at which IPv6 must ...

10 Goals for Good Privacy Protection Law
The concept of digital “privacy” refers to an individual’s right to determine when, how, and to what extent their personal data can be shared. Privacy is essential to our ability ...
9 Steps Companies Must Take to Ensure Data Privacy
Many Internet companies have extraordinary access to individuals’ personal data – their actions, their friends, their preferences, their interests – and their most intimate secrets. These companies should handle this ...

Organization Reports

On annual basis, we publish annual reports (an Action Plan and Impact Report), as well as financial reports, annual financial statements, and Form 990s.

See the Reports