RESOLUTION IN SUPPORT OF THE FREEDOM TO USE CRYPTOGRAPHY

25 SEPTEMBER 1996
PARIS, FRANCE

WHEREAS the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is now considering the development of an international policy for the use of cryptography;

WHEREAS the use of cryptography implicates human rights and matters of personal liberty that affect individuals around the world;

WHEREAS national governments have already taken steps to detain and to harass user and developers of cryptography technology;

WHEREAS cryptography is already in use by human rights advocates who face persecution by their national governments;

WHEREAS the privacy of communication is explicitly protected by Article 12 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 17 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and national law;

WHEREAS cryptography will play an increasingly important role in the ability of citizens to protect their privacy in the Information Society;

RECOGNIZING that the OECD has made substantial contributions to the preservation of human rights and the protection of privacy;

FURTHER RECOGNIZING that decisions about cryptography policy may gives rise to communication networks that favor privacy or favor surveillance;

FURTHER RECOGNIZING that the promotion of key escrow encryption by government poses a direct threat to the privacy rights of citizens;

THE FOLLOWING NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS, concerned with matters of human rights, civil liberty, and personal freedom, have joined together to

URGE the OECD to base its cryptography policies on the fundamental right of citizens to engage in private communication;

FURTHER URGE the OECD to resist policies that would encourage the development of communication networks designed for surveillance; and

RECOMMEND that the OECD turn its attention to growing public concerns about the widespread use of surveillance technologies and the implications for Democratic Society and Personal Liberty around the world.

RESPECTFULLY ENDORSED,


GILC Home Page