The first ever Global Encryption Day was held on 21 October 2021 and was an outstanding success!
Organized by the Global Encryption Coalition (GEC), Global Encryption Day brought people together around the world to champion strong encryption and to deliver the message to governments that weakening encryption puts people, communities, and entire nations at risk. On Global Encryption Day:
- More than 70 events were held worldwide, with over half of them hosted by Internet Society chapters.
- 168 organizations signed the Global Encryption Day Statement calling on governments and the private sector to reject efforts to undermine encryption and instead pursue policies that enhance, strengthen, and promote use of strong encryption to protect people everywhere.
- 9 companies provided testimonials on why they’re proud to offer end-to-end encrypted services to their customers.
- Over 2.4 million unique visitors visited the Make the Switch campaign website and the Who’s Listening game.
- Thousands of people watched the Global Encryption Day Press Conference. GEC Members Article 19, Mozilla, and Tutanota joined Edward Snowden, Board Member of Freedom of the Press Foundation, and other leading advocates of online freedom and civil society groups to launch Global Encryption Day and call on governments to stop undermining encryption. You can read the press release to learn more.
- Over 140 media articles were published around Global Encryption Day, including in/on CNBC, The Times, TechCrunch, Euractiv and The Next Web.
Our Work is Not Done Yet
While Global Encryption Day helped raise worldwide awareness of the importance of promoting and defending strong encryption, the threats to encryption have not gone away. We rely on our communities to help us advocate for strong encryption in parts of the world where it is at risk of being undermined. We still need your help to continue the work to educate and inform everyone that encryption is a key foundation of a strong and trustworthy Internet. Here’s how you can get involved:
- Join the Global Encryption Coalition (organizations) or become a Friend of the Global Encryption Coalition (individuals) to keep up to date on the latest developments on encryption and to advocate for strong encryption in your country or region.
- Make the Switch to end-to-end encrypted systems and platforms to keep your personal data safe and secure.
- Use our encryption fact sheets and other resources to learn how encryption can protect you and your communities.
- Follow the Global Encryption Coalition on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube for the latest developments on encryption and for details about Global encryption Day 2022
Thanks
We here at the Internet Society would like to extend a huge thank you to everyone who participated in or supported Global Encryption Day, including the Internet Society chapters and Organization Members, the Global Encryption Coalition Steering Committee, Global Encryption Coalition Members, Friends of the Global Encryption Coalition, the press conference panelists and invited journalists, Global Encryption Day supporting organizations, and encryption defenders everywhere.
We look forward to continuing to promote and defend encryption around the world, and towards a successful Global Encryption Day in 2022.
Note: The Internet Society is a founding member of the Global Encryption Coalition and is currently part of the GEC Steering Committee.