Above is my illustration depicting ‘cryptography’ with two hands exchanging an encrypted message, symbolizing secure communication between people and machines.
In the 21st century, our lives are written in data. Every click, message, search query, and GPS ping leaves a trail—one that can be analyzed, sold, stolen, or weaponized. In such an environment, privacy is not a luxury; it is a necessity for freedom. And in the digital realm, cryptography is the most powerful guardian of that privacy.
Yet cryptography is often misunderstood as a niche technical field for hackers, spies, and computer scientists. In reality, it is a universal protector—a mechanism that shields human dignity, autonomy, and safety. Without it, the promise of freedom in an interconnected world collapses under the weight of surveillance and manipulation.
The Philosophical Foundation of Privacy as a Right
1. Privacy as Autonomy
At its core, privacy allows individuals to control their own lives. Without privacy, every choice, conversation, and action can be influenced or coerced by the knowledge that it is being monitored. The philosopher Alan Westin described privacy as “the claim of individuals to determine for themselves when, how, and to what extent information about them is communicated to others.”
Cryptography empowers this autonomy by ensuring that digital interactions—be they personal, political, or financial—can occur without unwarranted intrusion.
2. Privacy as a Check on Power
History shows that unchecked surveillance is a tool of oppression. Authoritarian regimes have always thrived on the ability to monitor dissent, intimidate critics, and suppress free thought. Privacy acts as a counterbalance to power; cryptography enforces that privacy in the digital domain.
In a world without encryption, every journalist, activist, and whistleblower becomes vulnerable to retribution. The chilling effect is immediate: without the ability to communicate securely, dissent evaporates.
3. Privacy as a Collective Good
Privacy is not merely an individual concern—it’s a social necessity. If people cannot speak, read, or associate without being watched, the marketplace of ideas shrinks. Freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, and freedom of the press all depend on the ability to have secure, private spaces for thought and discussion. In this sense, cryptography protects democracy itself.
Cryptography as the Guardian of Privacy
Cryptography translates the philosophical right to privacy into a practical, enforceable reality in the digital age. Where laws can be ignored and promises broken, strong encryption is absolute: if implemented correctly, it cannot be bypassed without the key.
How Cryptography Protects Privacy
- End-to-End Encryption – Ensures that only the sender and intended recipient can read a message, whether it’s a chat on Signal, a video call, or an email.
- Data-at-Rest Encryption – Protects information stored on devices or servers, making stolen data useless without the key.
- Anonymous Credentials & Zero-Knowledge Proofs – Allow authentication without revealing unnecessary personal data.
- Secure Browsing (HTTPS) – Prevents eavesdropping on web activity, guarding against surveillance or tampering.
The “Nothing to Hide” Fallacy
One of the most persistent arguments against strong privacy is the refrain: “If you’ve got nothing to hide, you’ve got nothing to fear.”
This is a dangerously flawed mindset. Privacy is not about hiding wrongdoing; it’s about protecting the right to exist unobserved when you choose to. You lock your home not because you’re hiding contraband, but because it’s yours, and you control who enters.
In practice:
- Political Dissidents – In repressive countries, private communication can be the difference between life and death.
- Journalists – Need to protect sources from retaliation.
- Ordinary Citizens – Shouldn’t have their personal life commodified, manipulated, or surveilled without consent.
Without privacy, societies slide toward self-censorship, conformity, and fear—a reality that has played out in both historical authoritarian states and modern surveillance economies.
The Legal Perspective: Privacy in International Law
Several global declarations recognize privacy as a fundamental human right:
- Article 12 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) – States that no one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with privacy, family, home, or correspondence.
- International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) – Reaffirms the right to privacy as binding international law.
- European Convention on Human Rights – Includes privacy protections in Article 8.
However, these legal protections are only as strong as their enforcement mechanisms—and in the age of mass digital surveillance, laws often lag behind technology. Cryptography becomes the de facto enforcement tool, making privacy technically unavoidable rather than just legally symbolic.
The War on Encryption: A Battle for Freedom
Governments and law enforcement agencies frequently push for “backdoors” in encryption systems—special access mechanisms that would allow them to bypass security in the name of national security or crime prevention.
The problem: a backdoor for the good guys is a backdoor for the bad guys. Any intentional weakness can and will be exploited by hostile actors, from cybercriminals to foreign intelligence agencies.
High-profile moments in this battle include:
- The 1990s Crypto Wars – When the U.S. government tried to restrict export of strong encryption.
- Apple vs. FBI (2016) – A legal standoff over whether Apple could be compelled to unlock an encrypted iPhone.
- Ongoing Debates – Countries like Australia and the UK have passed laws compelling companies to assist in bypassing encryption, sparking outcry from privacy advocates.
The push for encryption backdoors is not just a technical issue—it’s a philosophical one. To weaken encryption is to weaken privacy, and to weaken privacy is to undermine the foundation of freedom.
Cryptography, Commerce, and Control Over One’s Data
In the modern economy, personal data is currency. Tech giants harvest user behavior to fuel targeted advertising, while data brokers build detailed profiles on millions of people. Without encryption, individuals have no meaningful control over who collects and uses their personal information.
End-to-end encryption and privacy-preserving technologies shift power back to individuals:
- Secure Payment Systems – Protect against financial fraud.
- Decentralized Identity Systems – Let users control who sees their credentials.
- Personal Data Vaults – Enable storage of sensitive data under user control, sharing only on explicit consent.
These technologies create a balance of power, ensuring that the individual—not corporations or governments—ultimately controls their own data.
The Future: Privacy Under Quantum Threat
The coming era of quantum computing poses a challenge to many existing encryption methods, particularly those used in public key cryptography. If quantum computers reach sufficient scale, they could break today’s widely used algorithms, rendering private communications vulnerable.
This looming threat has spurred the development of post-quantum cryptography—new algorithms resistant to quantum attacks. The proactive adoption of these systems is essential if we want privacy to remain intact in the future.
Why Privacy Matters Even in Free Societies
A common assumption is that privacy is only urgent in authoritarian regimes. This is dangerously naive. Even in democracies:
- Surveillance powers can expand during emergencies and never fully recede.
- Collected data can be misused by future administrations.
- Commercial surveillance can be as manipulative as political surveillance.
The erosion of privacy is gradual—by the time its absence is felt, it’s often too late to restore.
The Moral Imperative
Cryptography is not just a technical discipline; it is a moral stance. Choosing to encrypt your data is choosing to affirm that privacy is worth defending—for yourself and for others.
By using encrypted tools, supporting privacy-focused companies, and resisting legislative efforts to weaken encryption, individuals act as stewards of a broader social good. In this sense, using cryptography is an act of civic responsibility.
Conclusion: Privacy as the Bedrock of Liberty
In the analog age, privacy could be protected with locked doors, sealed envelopes, and trusted conversations. In the digital age, those protections are no longer enough. Our communications, finances, health records, and political activities exist as bits and bytes—easily copied, intercepted, and analyzed. Without cryptography, those bits are naked to anyone who wishes to see.
Privacy is not about secrecy for its own sake; it is about the ability to think, speak, and act freely without fear of intrusion or reprisal. Cryptography is the means by which we carry this right into the digital era.
In the end, the choice is stark: a future in which every interaction is traceable, or one in which privacy remains a living, breathing part of human freedom. If we believe that liberty is worth preserving, then cryptography is not optional—it is indispensable.