Consumer encryption and privacy protections are under attack, with a number of European governments weakening laws that guarantee anonymity online.
Swiss company Proton, the most complete suite of privacy-minded apps I’ve used yet, threw down its gauntlet earlier this year when it declared that it would leave Switzerland if a controversial law weakening the country’s protections passed.
It’s all too much for the ACT | The App Association, which published an open letter to policymakers that was signed by 61 organizations from all across the world.
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Governments often seek laws requiring companies to keep logs of their users’ activities, which may be turned over to law enforcement, and to build in back doors so that they can access citizens’ private communications, weakening end-to-end encryption that keeps their online use private.
There are apps to beef up your security, such as virtual private networks (VPNs) and password managers, but a number of governments have sought to roll back this right to privacy in 2025, particularly in Europe/
“Efforts to circumvent or weaken encryption are bad for small businesses and undermine trust. Security and privacy are not opposing goals, both can and must be upheld through approaches that are lawful, proportionate, and technologically sound,” read a LinkedIn post by ACT on Tuesday, November 18, 2025.
“We call on policymakers everywhere to protect and strengthen encryption as an essential tool for digital safety and economic prosperity.”
Signatories include some of the biggest organizations across tech and data privacy, including the Consumer Technology Association, which runs CES, the world’s largest annual tech trade show.
It also includes the VPN Trust Initiative. As if the name doesn’t give their master plan away already, the VTI exists to encourage and protect laws that allow for people to access, possess, and use VPNs.
The VTI was founded by five VPN companies: NordVPN, Surfshark, Golden Frog (VyprVPN), ExpressVPN, and NetProtect. You can read ACT’s full open letter, which it posted on Monday, November 17, here.
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