Today is Global Encryption Day, and it’s an important moment to reflect on a foundational element of our digital lives that too many take for granted: encryption.
Encryption is not just a technical layer of protection—it is a shield for individual liberty, economic growth, and national security in the digital age. At the Institute for Policy Innovation, we’ve long defended the right to strong, uncompromised encryption, and today that defense is more important than ever.
We in the United States are fortunate. Unlike in many other countries—where governments either prohibit strong encryption outright or require surveillance back doors—we enjoy robust legal protections that allow individuals and businesses to use strong encryption to secure their data and communications. That’s not the case in authoritarian regimes, where encryption is viewed as a threat to state control. The ability to encrypt our devices, messages, and online transactions is a freedom Americans should not take lightly—and must actively defend.
Unfortunately, there are still those in our own government who argue that encryption should be weakened to aid law enforcement or national security. These arguments typically invoke terrifying scenarios: terrorists plotting in secret, criminals hiding evidence behind locked phones. The implication is that if the government had access to encrypted data, we would all be safer.
But this is a dangerous and false trade-off.
First, from a purely technical standpoint, there is no such thing as a “safe” back door. A vulnerability that allows government access will inevitably be discovered and exploited by bad actors—cybercriminals, hostile foreign governments, and unreliable bureaucrats. Weakening encryption makes everyone less safe.
But even more importantly, it reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of our constitutional system. The purpose of the American government is not to maximize security—it is to protect individual liberty. Our Founders did not envision a government that promises total security in exchange for diminished liberty. Freedom always comes before security. That is the American idea.
Strong encryption empowers individuals. It protects our private communications, our financial information, our intellectual property, and our constitutional rights. It also underpins the trust that fuels our digital economy. Without it, e-commerce would stall, innovation would suffer, and privacy would be an illusion.
So on this Global Encryption Day, let’s recognize encryption for what it truly is: a necessity for a free and secure society. We must resist any effort to undermine it—no matter how well-intentioned—and stand firm in the belief that freedom is worth protecting, even when it’s inconvenient for government.