Protecting Encryption And Privacy In The US: 2023 Year in Review

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EFF believes you have the right to have a private conversation–in the physical world, and in the digital world. The best technology to protect that right is end-to-end encryption. 

Governments around the world are working hard to monitor online conversations, far beyond the bounds of traditional targeted law enforcement. 2023 has been a year of unprecedented threats to encryption and privacy. 

In the US, three Senate bills were introduced that, in our view, would discourage, weaken, or create backdoors into encryption technology. With your help, we’ve stopped all three from moving forward–and we’ll continue to do so in the year to come. 

EARN IT, S. 1207

Simply put, EARN IT allows providers of secure communications services to be sued or prosecuted. The excuse for EARN IT is to combat online child abuse. EARN IT would allow state attorneys general to regulate the internet, as long as the stated purpose for their regulation is to protect kids from online exploitation.  

There’s no doubt that the purpose of this bill is to scan user messages, photos, and files. In a Q&A document published last year, the bill sponsors even suggested specific software that could be used to monitor users. If you offer your users encrypted services, the bill specifically allows the fact that you offered encryption to constitute evidence against you in court. 

Constantly scanning every internet user is not a reasonable technique for investigating crimes. What’s more, evidence continues to mount that the scanning software used to detect child abuse does not work and creates false accusations. If EARN IT passes, it will push companies to either stop using encryption services or even create a dangerous backdoor to encryption that would weaken privacy and security for everyone. 

We were disappointed that EARN IT passed through a committee vot

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