Perceptions on encryption and criminal investigations in Brazil: mapping and analysis
16 de September de 2021
The use of encryption was progressively widespread in society during the second half of the 20th century and beginning of the 21st century to the point that, over the last few decades, it has evolved to become one of the most important tools for ensuring security in the digital environment. Given the growing importance of encryption on the agenda of debates on Internet governance policies today, understanding its controversies becomes essential for a technically mature and politically democratic debate on the subject. Concerning this need we developed this study, which provides a historical overview of these clashes and then analyze the different perceptions of cryptography governance by those who move the debate in Brazilian territory. For this analysis, more than 40 interviews were carried out with representatives of the government, business, third sector and scientific and technological community who have different disciplinary backgrounds and professional trajectories. In addition to mapping, we analyze the arguments raised from academic and public policy references that allow us to apprehend the relevant empirical contexts for the discussion.
This publication is part of the “Privacy is Security: Communicating the Importance of Encryption for All” project, in partnership with ISOC Brasil and funding from ISOC Foundation.
Also check out some preliminary results of the study here.
