Human rights and encryption
Guaranteeing "uninhibited communications"
### Guaranteeing "uninhibited communications"

Encryption supports this mode of communication by allowing people to protect the integrity, [availability](/wiki/Availability "Availability") and confidentiality of their communications. The requirement of uninhibited communications is an important precondition for freedom of communication, which is acknowledged by constitutional courts e.g. [US Supreme Court](/wiki/Supreme_Court_of_the_United_States "Supreme Court of the United States")See for example New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254 (1964\) and Dombrowskiv. Pfister, 380 U.S. 479 (1965\). and the [Federal Constitutional Court of Germany](/wiki/Federal_Constitutional_Court "Federal Constitutional Court")See BVerfG NJW 1995, 3303 (3304\) and BVerfG NJW 2006, 207 (209\). as well as the [European Court of Human Rights](/wiki/European_Court_of_Human_Rights "European Court of Human Rights").Cumhuryiet Vafki and others v. Turkey, ECHR August 10, 2013 – 28255/07; Ricci v. Italy, ECHR August 10, 2013 – 30210/06\. More specifically, meaningful communication requires people's ability to freely choose the pieces of information and develop their ideas, the style of language and select the medium of communication according to their personal needs. Uninhibited communication is also a [precondition](/wiki/Precondition "Precondition") for autonomous personal development. Human beings grow their personality by communicating with others.Tarlach McGonagle. The United Nations and Freedom of Expression and Information. chapter 1, p. 3\. UN's first Special Rapporteur on Privacy, Professor Joe Cannataci, stated that *"privacy is not just an enabling right as opposed to being an end in itself, but also an essential right which enables the achievement of an over\-arching fundamental right to the free, unhindered development of one's personality"*.Report of the Special Rapporteur on the right to privacy, Joseph A. Cannataci, A/HRC/31/64\. In case such communication is inhibited, the interaction is biased because a statement does not only reflect the speaker's true (innermost) personal views but can be unduly influenced by considerations that should not shape communication in the first place. Therefore, the process of forming one's personality through [social interaction](/wiki/Social_relation "Social relation") is disrupted. In a complex society freedom of speech does not become reality when people have the right to speak. A second level of guarantees need to protect the precondition of making use of the right to express oneself. If there is the risk of [surveillance](/wiki/Surveillance "Surveillance") the right to protect one freedom of speech by means of encryption has to be considered as one of those second level rights. Thus, restriction of the availability and effectiveness of encryption as such constitutes an interference with the freedom of expression and the right to privacy as it protects private life and correspondence. Therefore, it has to be assessed in terms of [legality](/wiki/Legality "Legality"), necessity and purpose.


What kind of guarantees need to protect the right to express oneself?