Mozilla recently signed onto an amicus brief – alongside the Electronic Frontier Foundation , the Internet Society, Signal, and a broad coalition of other allies – on the Nevada Attorney General’s recent attempt to limit encryption. The amicus brief signals a collective commitment from these organizations on the importance of encryption in safeguarding digital privacy and security as fundamental rights.
The core of this dispute is the Nevada Attorney General’s proposition to limit the application of end-to-end encryption (E2EE) for children’s online communications. It is a move that ostensibly aims to aid law enforcement but, in practice, could significantly weaken the privacy and security of all internet users, including children. Nevada argues that end-to-end encryption might impede some criminal investigations. However, as the amicus brief explains, encryption does not prevent either the sender or recipient from reporting concerning content to police, nor does it prevent police from accessing other metadata about communications via lawful requests. Blocking the rollout of end-to-end encryption would undermine privacy and security for everyone for a marginal benefit that would be far outweighed by the harms such a draconian limitation could create.
The case, set for a hearing in Clark County, Nevada, encapsulates a broader debate on the balance between enabling law enforcement to combat online crimes and preserving robust online protections for all users – especially vulnerable populations like children. Mozilla’s involvement in this amicus brief is founded on its long standing belief that encryption is an essential component of its core Manifesto tenet – privacy and security are fundamental online and should not be treated as optional.