Digital Freedom Declaration

Freedom and fundamental rights are severely curtailed on a daily basis in the digital world.

We depend on digital innovation that protects our privacy and personal data to shield us against discrimination, harassment, cyberattacks and the oppressive practices of authoritarian regimes.

Developers coding privacy-enhancing technologies (PETs) serve a critical role benefitting citizens and societies. Their innovation protects our freedom and we are in need of their creativity.

However, legal certainty and a supporting framework are missing, which means developers face significant risks and lack the freedom to innovate.

In the interest of better serving society in the coming decades, we need to find a solution that balances innovation with appropriate regulation to protect our freedom and the freedom of our developers.

01/ The challenge

Freedom and fundamental rights are severely curtailed on a daily basis in the digital world.

We depend on digital innovation that protects our privacy and personal data to shield us against discrimination, harassment, cyberattacks and the oppressive practices of authoritarian regimes.

Developers coding privacy-enhancing technologies (PETs) serve a critical role benefitting citizens and societies. Their innovation protects our freedom and we are in need of their creativity.

However, legal certainty and a supporting framework are missing, which means developers face significant risks and lack the freedom to innovate.

02/ The role of privacy in civil rights and innovation

Legal systems that uphold civil rights, safeguard data integrity and protect privacy form the foundation of our future. This requires clear, proportionate and transparent rules that equally apply to everyone.

The right to privacy is an inalienable right; privacy is a basic element of trust, freedom, and innovation. This is because it serves to:

Uphold fundamental rights: Privacy leverages other civil rights such as freedom of expression and shields our rule of law against transgressions from malign public and private actors.
Enable progress: Data protection is the foundation of innovation, driving new ideas and enabling products and services to compete in global markets. It builds trust and encourages people to work together in digital systems.
Resist digital authoritarianism: The rise of digital authoritarianism threatens global internet freedom. Promoting PETs counteracts efforts to suppress free expression and maintains an open internet.

Privacy protected by sound legal principles is a beacon of freedom in an ever more dystopian world.

03/ Our vision

We embrace the freedom to innovate while clearly regulating its misuse.

We place accountability for misuse on regulated organisations, users and facilitators. It is them who are directly responsible for their actions, as are those who willingly engage with bad actors.

We call for proportionality and consistency between online and offline activities. A car used in a bank robbery does not render its manufacturer responsible for the crime; likewise, the mere fact of having produced and published a string of 0s and 1s that is then (ab)used by others does not automatically render developers liable.

We insist that privacy in itself is not a crime but remains a fundamental right. Developers and maintainers of technological tools or decentralised protocols must be free to innovate without fear.

We do not accept that privacy becomes an afterthought in technological development. It must be embedded into digital infrastructures from the start, based on a broad societal consensus.

04/ Why this matters for our society

A new era for innovation: Fields like quantum computing, DLT, and AI rely on unbridled experimentation. The ability to bring transformative products to market is essential to spearhead the technological future.
Competitiveness: Nations that empower their developers lead the race in technological leadership. They succeed if bold ideas are rewarded, not penalised.
Smart Regulation: Excessive legal and regulatory burdens erode innovation. We need proportionate, future-proof policies that support development while addressing misuse through clear enforcement rules, in order for developers to know what they can and cannot do.
Resisting mass surveillance: The unchecked collection of financial and personal data poses an existential threat to open societies and democracy. PETs are critical in safeguarding individual liberty.
Ensuring digital sovereignty: Without privacy protection, individuals and enterprises remain vulnerable to exploitative practices by corporations and intrusive government oversight.

05/ Our call to action

We call on policymakers, entrepreneurs, societal organisations, and the broader public to:

Invest in education: Equip everyone in the private and public sectors, including our citizens, with a better understanding of emerging technologies. Promote collaboration between developers, regulators and citizens to build trust and shared responsibility. Ensure that decisions are not taken based on fear of the unknown but on firm reasoning and knowledge.
Raise awareness: Advocate for the importance of technological freedom and privacy. Support campaigns that highlight the vital role of developers in driving innovation and securing our societies’ digital future and protecting our civil rights.
Promote smart regulation: Develop proportionate legal frameworks that clarify accountability rather than penalising developers of open-source tools, to stop undesired prosecutions. Foster an environment where bold ideas and experimentation can flourish without the risk that developers will be unfairly criminalised for actions of platform users.

By supporting these measures, you do not just protect developers and ideals such as innovation and freedom — you protect yourself and everyone around you by insisting on basic rights that we all enjoy in our physical world. Help protect innovation, digital freedom, and the rule of law by clear legal rules and procedures for developers and maintainers of these tools. You contribute to a society where emerging technologies can thrive, trust in digital systems is strengthened, and data is safeguarded from cyber threats and misuse. This ensures that our economy remains competitive and that we create a clearly regulated future where technological progress benefits everyone.

Take a stand. Spread the word and become one of us: Support this declaration!