Encryption helps protect people’s human rights online. By rendering digital data unintelligible, encryption helps ensure that private information sent over the internet stays private. Technology companies play a crucial role in keeping digital information safe. In this report, Amnesty International ranks 11 technology companies on whether they are meeting their human rights responsibilities by using encryption to protect users’ right to privacy online. It focuses specifically on instant messaging services, such as Skype, WhatsApp and WeChat, which hundreds of millions of people around the world use to communicate every day.