Global Partners Digital Relaunches World Map of Encryption Laws and Policies
Today, Global Partners Digital relaunches its World Map of Encryption Laws and Policies, a research tool to assess and compare laws, policies and practices on encryption across countries worldwide.
The World Map includes research on 100 countries. Today’s relaunch includes a redesigned interface and new research on 40 countries using our updated framework (over 30 live now and more to be added in the coming weeks) with 60 more countries included using the older framework. All countries are clearly labelled with the methodology applied and assessment date.
The map provides a structured, comparative analysis of how far laws, policies and practices across diverse countries enable or interfere with encryption and how well safeguarded powers are against abuse. Each country receives two ratings: restrictions (rated minimal, moderate or severe) show how far its laws and policies interfere with strong encryption; safeguards (rated weak, moderate or strong) show how well people are protected against abuse of those powers.
The updated research reveals how governments around the world are approaching the regulation of encryption. From Australia to the UK and Canada, we’re seeing laws and proposals that attempt to bypass traditional lawful access routes and build access by design into encrypted channels. Notably, while we’re seeing a big uptick in online safety measures, few have yet had a bearing on encryption.
The research brings into focus counter-trends, including a new law in Chile that expressly protects the use of encryption, or Brazil’s ECA Digital, which requires privacy by default. Many harmful proposals in recent years have also been averted or stalled, from the EU’s ‘Chat Control’ to a proposed encryption backdoor in Sweden to warding off VPN restrictions in the UK.
“On one hand, we’re seeing ever greater adoption of encryption, and on the other, muscular attempts to undermine it,” said Ellie McDonald, Policy and Advocacy Lead at Global Partners Digital, who led the research project. “We’re delighted to share the refreshed World Map of Encryption Laws and Policies to help separate the speculative from the certain and to back up the field with up-to-date analysis.”
“Civil society has been hugely successful at stopping mass surveillance from becoming law by building a global solidarity network to share tactics and knowledge,” said Mallory Knodel, Executive Director of the Social Web Foundation, who sat on the independent expert committee. “This map is essential knowledge for any human rights advocate working on free expression, privacy and civil rights.”
“Encryption protects more than our data. It protects our ability to speak freely, organize, and participate safely in society. It keeps people safe,” said Dr. Joseph Hall, Distinguished Technologist at the Internet Society. “The Internet Society supported the World Map of Encryption Laws and Policies because both advocates and policymakers need clear, accessible evidence to understand how laws and policies around the world affect encryption, and whether they protect or undermine the technology people rely on every day.”
“Mozilla has long defended individuals’ online security and privacy as fundamental rights. Strong encryption is essential to both, as well as to a trustworthy internet. Backdoors and proposals that circumvent encryption, such as client-side scanning, create vulnerabilities that anyone can exploit, even when that isn’t their intent,” said Neha Kochar, Director of Engineering at Mozilla. “As AI makes cyber threats increasingly sophisticated and scalable, defending strong encryption is more important than ever. The Global Encryption Map gives policymakers, technologists and advocates a jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction view of threats to encryption, helping them identify emerging risks and advocate for policies that protect it.”
The research was conducted by the team at Global Partners Digital with contributions from a global cohort of researchers and with the support of an independent committee of experts. For full details of the contributors, see the Map’s About page.
The research was made possible thanks to the financial support of Global Partners Digital, the Internet Society and Mozilla.