EFF has signed on to a joint civil society statement welcoming the groundbreaking report supporting encryption and anonymity by the UN Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression, David Kaye. The Special Rapporteur will present the report on June 17th at the 29th regular session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva.

Kaye’s analysis recognizes that encryption and anonymity are critical to freedom of expression, adding a key voice at a moment when governments are threatening to weaken encryption or insist upon backdoors. Kaye wrote:

“Encryption and anonymity, today’s leading vehicles for online security, provide individuals with a means to protect their privacy, empowering them to browse, read, develop and share opinions and information without interference and enabling journalists, civil society organizations, members of ethnic or religious groups, those persecuted because of their sexual orientation or gender identity, activists, scholars, artist and others to exercise the rights to freedom of expression and opinion.”

You can read EFF comments submitted to the Special Rapporteur on February 2015. The report is also available in Spanish.

You can read the full civil society statement below.