W3C co-signs the Global Encryption Day Statement

Today marks the inaugural Global Encryption Day. We are proud to be among the signatories of the Global Encryption Day Statement in support of strong encryption, organized by the Global Encryption Coalition (of which we are members).

Strong encryption is a critical technology that helps keep people, their information, and communications private and secure. It underpins online trust, protects members of vulnerable communities, and safeguards the data of governments, businesses, and citizens from criminals and other malicious actors.

However, some governments and organizations are pushing to weaken encryption, which would create a dangerous precedent that compromises the security and privacy of billions of people around the world. Actions in one country that undermine encryption threaten us all.

On Global Encryption Day, we call 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. We also support and encourage the efforts of companies to protect their customers by deploying strong encryption on their services and on their platforms.

Strong encryption is a critical tool toward a safer world for us all.

W3C's established values and technical work both support and rely on strong encryption. These include:

Please read more about recent work done by the W3C Technical Architecture Group and in Security and Privacy in our October 2021 W3C Strategic Highlights.

• Web Cryptography API, W3C standard (2017)
• Web Authentication, W3C standard (2021)
• Web Application Security Working Group (many specifications)
• End-to-End Encryption and the Web, TAG Finding (2015)
• Securing the Web, TAG Finding (2015)
• W3C TAG Ethical Web Principles, TAG Finding (2021)