Courage is proud to join the global coalition launched by Access Now calling on governments across the world not to compromise their citizens’ access to secure communications and end-to-end encryption. Our acting Director Sarah Harrison, Courage advisory members Thomas Drake, Norman Solomon and John Kiriakou have signed individually as well.

The open letter, which organisations, businesses and individuals can still sign, makes the following demands:

Governments should not ban or otherwise limit user access to

encryption in any form or otherwise prohibit the implementation or use of encryption by grade or type;

encryption in any form or otherwise prohibit the implementation or use of encryption by grade or type; Governments should not mandate the design or implementation of “backdoors” or vulnerabilities into tools, technologies, or services;

Governments should not require that tools, technologies, or services are designed or developed to allow for third-party access to unencrypted data or encryption keys;

Governments should not seek to weaken or undermine encryption standards or intentionally influence the establishment of encryption standards except to promote a higher level of information security. No government should mandate insecure encryption algorithms, standards, tools, or technologies; and

Governments should not, either by private or public agreement,

compel or pressure an entity to engage in activity that is inconsistent with the above tenets.

Strong end-to-end encryption is vital for the truthtellers Courage works with, as it is for journalists, activists, professionals who work with confidential information – and anyone else who cares about the integrity of their communications. As the UN Special Rapporteur for freedom of expression, who signed the letter himself, noted in a recent report, “encryption and anonymity, and the security concepts behind them, provide the privacy and security necessary for the exercise of the right to freedom of opinion and expression in the digital age.”

In recent months, legislation that undermines public access to encryption has been proposed or discussed in several countries.

While governments in France and The Netherlands have concluded that compromising encryption is inappropriate, it is extremely worrying that legislators in the UK and China are moving in the opposite direction.

The impact of such measures is global. The Security For All open letter, signed by groups from 42 different countries, makes clear that support for encryption and securely private communication is global too.