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No. 53 The Politics of Encryption

Workshop Format. Please click here for a description of available Workshop Session Formats.

Panel

Duration of proposed workshop

90 minutes

IGF 2015 subtheme that this workshop falls under

Internet and Human Rights

Description

Encryption is a basic building block of trust on the Internet. It is needed to ensure freedom of speech, privacy and to facilitate e-commerce. Encryption ranges along a continuum from no encryption at all to unbreakable encryption with no backdoors. Technology, politics and public sentiment all factor in to determine the appropriate or socially optimal level of online encryption. This balance is not static, either over time or across countries. Often, technological moves toward high levels of encryption generate higher efforts to break encryption by state agencies, cueing off a proverbial “crypto war”. Likewise, extreme political positions either in favour or against encryption generate their opposite. These trends raise several questions that this panel will address: What is the appropriate balance of encryption online? How should the systems of Internet governance respond to changing levels of demand and supply of encryption? After the Snowden disclosures, what protocol design approaches are needed to bring trust back into the system? This panel will bring together experts from private business, government, technologists and civil society to discuss the politics of encryption. The intended outcome of this panel is to develop a forward looking perspective on the encryption debate. Given where we are, how can we move forward and what is the appropriate direction?

Name, stakeholder group, and organizational affiliation of workshop proposal co-organizer(s)

Gordon Smith
Civil Society
Global Commission on Internet Governance

Hannah Bryce or Caroline Baylon
Civil Society
Royal Institute for International Affairs

Has the proposer, or any of the co-organizers, organized an IGF workshop before?

yes

The link to the workshop report

http://www.intgovforum.org/cms/wks2014/index.php/proposal/view_public/47 http://www.intgovforum.org/cms/wks2014/index.php/proposal/view_public/63 http://www.intgovforum.org/cms/2013/scripts/wks2013/report_view.php?xpsltipq_je=61

Subject matter #tags that describe the workshop

#Encryption #Privacy #Surveillance #HumanRights #CyberSecurity

Description of the plan to facilitate discussion amongst speakers, audience members and remote participants

This panel is designed to encourage an open dialog and exchange of ideas between the participants. It is envisioned that each of the panelists will provide a brief introductory comment (of 5 minutes), which will then be followed by a question and answer period, engaging audience members, remote attendees and other panelists. The Moderator will ensure that there is equal distribution of time allocated to differing view-points, to ensure a robust discussion and inclusive discourse. Moreover, the panellists have been selected to represent and embody the geographic, cultural and gender diversity, as well as the diversity in stakeholder type, with representation from civil society, the academy, and government.

Names and affiliations (stakeholder group, organization) of the participants in the proposed workshop

Anne Carblanc
Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development
International Organization

Andrew Sullivan
Technical Community
IAB

Danny O'Brien
Civil Society
Electronic Frontiers Foundation

Marietje Schaake
Government
European Parliament

Frank Pace
Law Enforcement
Phoenix Police Department

Mohammad Tarakiyee
Civil Society
Association for Progressive Communications

Name of in-person Moderator(s)

Bill Graham

Name of Remote Moderator(s)

Samantha Bradshaw and Eric Jardine

Name of Rapporteur(s)

Samantha Bradshaw and Eric Jardine

Description of the proposer's plans for remote participation

CIGI plans to engage and include remote attendees using a combination of video and social media technologies. This will allow the CIGI IGF panel content to be shared in real time around the world to all those who wish to participate. To keep the workshop lively and accessible to all, remote attendees will be able to chat throughout the workshop with other remote attendees. During the Q&A periods of the workshop, remote attendees will be given an equal opportunity to directly engage with local workshop participants.

If bandwidth conditions are suitable, the CIGI IGF panel will be fully streamed using both audio and video. In the event that bandwidth is problematic, a low bit-rate audio stream will be provided. The full audio and video of the CIGI IGF panel will be made available and distributed online to all those unable to attend remotely or in person

Background paper

background paper

Agenda

Panel introduction by the moderator
Introductory remarks by each panelist
Panel moderator to pose a set of questions to the panel
Moderator will open the floor to questions from attendees and remote participants
Concluding remarks by the panelists
Moderator to conclude the panel

Key Issues raised (1 sentence per issue):

This panel examined encryption technology, and associated questions around freedom of speech, national security and privacy. It discussed the appropriate levels of encryption online; how systems of Internet governance responded to changing levels of demand and supply of encryption; and how encryption can be used to restore trust in the Internet.

Please describe the discussions that took place during the workshop session (3 paragraphs):

The panel discussed Encryption - a technology used to secure online communications, which works by scrambling data sent across the network so that only intended recipients can access it. The panel discussed how it is a fundamental technology for establishing trust on the Internet, as it prevents unlawful or unauthorized access by a third party, making it essential for upholding and protecting freedom of speech, privacy and security online.

However, the panel noted that encryption has become a politically charged topic. In light of the Snowden revelations, there have been calls by the Internet’s technical community to make encryption ubiquitous to inhibit mass surveillance, protect users against human rights violations and restore trust in the Internet.

Law enforcement agencies often access online communications to identify and prosecute criminals and terrorists who use the Internet as a platform to communicate or carry out illegal activities. Viewing the content of information sent and stored online is essential for filtering spam and stopping the proliferation of revenge or child pornography online, and for stopping hate speech and online harassment.

The panel discussed how this apparent paradox between privacy and security could be resolved.

If there were presentations during the workshop session, please provide a 1-paragraph summary for each presentation:

There were no presentations

Please describe any participant suggestions regarding the way forward/ potential next steps/ key takeaways (3 paragraphs):

The panel came up with 3 key lessons for policymakers:

1) Stop viewing encryption and security as competing forces. Encryption and security are not always in opposition. Encryption is a vital tool for protecting the security of our financial transactions online, and for protecting real lives in environments where it is not safe to express fundamental human rights.

2) Backdoors are bad for security. Any efforts to weaken encryption standards by building backdoors into the technology can cause serious harm to those who rely on this technology for freedom of speech, e-commerce, and privacy, and will ultimately weaken the security and integrity of the Internet. It is not reasonable to suggest a backdoor built for good-faith government access will not be exploited by a criminal.

3) Take a more nuanced approach to understanding the relationship between encryption and national security. When we think of the issues surrounding national security and encryption, most of the debate has centred around protecting citizens from bulk-data collection. It is important that we differentiate these actions from legally targeted collection by law enforcement agencies, so that society can have a healthy debate around encryption technology and national security.

Estimate the overall number of the participants present at the session:

There were about 70 people in the room and 10 remote participants.

Estimate the overall number of women present at the session:

Less than half of the participants were women

To what extent did the session discuss gender equality and/or women’s empowerment?

It was not seen as related to the session’s theme and was not raised

If the session addressed issues related to gender equality and/or women’s empowerment, please provide a brief summary of the discussion:

N/A

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