The social and economic benefits of the Internet cannot be realized without users’ ability to communicate and organize privately, and, where appropriate, anonymously. Data collection warrants must strike a balance to protect these benefits without impeding law enforcement’s ability to enforce the law. In recent weeks, the United States Department of Justice’s (DoJ) conflict with DreamHost, a website hosting service, has underscored the importance of this balance.

The Five Eyes – Canada, the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand – recently met in Ottawa to discuss national security challenges. The resulting joint communiqué noted that “encryption can severely undermine public safety efforts by impeding lawful access to the content of communications during investigations into serious crimes, including terrorism.” The Internet Society believes that this view of encryption is misleading and bodes badly for a trusted Internet. Any weakening of encryption will hurt cybersecurity and individual rights and freedoms.

Yesterday’s decision by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) should be welcomed by advocates of net neutrality. Though not an ideal decision in certain respects, and continuing to make clear the need for specific, updated legislation on online connectivity and communication, it does nevertheless enshrine some of key principles of net neutrality in the CRTC’s regulatory framework.

Privacy has been a top-of-mind issue in the United States for the past couple of weeks. Last Tuesday, the House of Representatives voted to repeal privacy rules (pdf) passed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) last year. The vote was close, 215-205, but it appears likely that the President will soon sign the resolution into law.