The Institute for Policy Innovation (IPI) recently hosted an event on Encryption and Online Commerce featuring the Innovation Economy Alliance’s Executive Director Bartlett Cleland.
IPI reports “Encryption is vital for secure online commerce and private communication. Without it, carrying devices with personal information would be risky, and privacy could not be guaranteed.
In the 1990s, the Clinton administration proposed banning encryption or requiring encryption keys to be held in “escrow” for government access. This raised significant concerns about privacy and freedom. Organizations like IPI fought to ensure the right to encryption for ordinary users—and succeeded.
Today, encryption remains essential but controversial. Government agencies often criticize it as a tool for criminals; and companies have faced backlash for implementing encryption that even they cannot unlock.Defenders of liberty must continue to remind Americans that encryption safeguards “the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects.”
Click here to watch IPI’s virtual briefing from Global Encryption Day, where policy and industry experts Adam Thierer, Bartlett Cleland, Shane Tews, Beda Mohanty, and Greg Nojeim discussed the crucial role of encryption in protecting privacy and security.
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