Yesterday was Global Encryption Day, and the day was used by the Tor Project to demand end-to-end encryption as the standard for private messaging across all platforms. The Tor Project is the organization behind the Tor network and Tor browser, which 2.5 million people use every day to protect their privacy and visit censored websites. Something that according to the Tor Project is only possible thanks to encryption.
The organization states that secure, encrypted communication is now more important than ever. Conversations that are normal one day may contain illegal content the next, according to Al Smith of the Tor Project. However, there are platforms where private messages are nothing end-to-end encrypted by default. Something it should, Smith notes. He points to Facebook, which earlier this year shared private messages between a mother and her daughter with the police. “Without end-to-end encryption, our online lives could be hacked, shared with the police, or even viewed by creepy corporate employees,” Smith continues.
That's why the Tor Project says it has seized Global Encryption Day to demand that Big Tech encrypt private messages with end-to-end encryption. Not as a hidden feature, but as a default setting. "Companies like Meta, Twitter, Apple, Google, Slack, Discord and all chat-enabled services need to add end-to-end encryption to their chat services right away." In addition, digital rights movement Fight for the Future has launched an online petition calling on tech companies to encrypt private messages end-to-end.