Defend Encryption
I support services that use end-to-end encryption and oppose government attempts to block them.
WhatsApp was blocked in Brazil for protecting its users with encryption. They need your help.
Earlier this week a judge in Brazil ordered ISPs to block the WhatsApp messaging service because it doesn’t retain its users' personal information. With the stroke of a pen, a single judge shut down one of the main forms of communications in the fifth largest country in the world.
The WhatsApp shutdown in Brazil is part of a global movement by governments to criminalize services that use end-to-end encryption to protect their users. Corrupt and power hungry governments around the world have begun to view any service that puts people’s private communications out of reach for law enforcement as threats to their authority, and they are moving quickly to shut them down.
The Brazilian Congress is close to passing a cybercrime bill that would codify shutdowns like what just happened to WhatsApp. In the United States, powerful senators are pushing legislation that would make secure services like WhatsApp, Snapchat, and Apple iOS illegal unless they give the government a special backdoor portal for accessing user information. The United Kingdom is pushing an encryption ban as well.
If we don’t stand up and show our support for companies like WhatsApp right now, we risk losing our digital privacy and security for good. That would mean more of our personal data stolen by identity thieves and people who want to harm us, and it would means our critical infrastructure – from power plants to water treatments facilities – becomes less secure from cyberattacks.
Thankfully, WhatsApp is not backing down from protecting its users. Here’s what their CEO said on Facebook:
But they won't be able keep protecting user sercurity without a strong showing that the public is on their side.
Add your name above and let the world know that you support companies that protect their users against overzealous surveillance authorities.