The Electronic Frontier Foundation has launched a new privacy push called the Encrypt It Already campaign, urging major tech companies to expand end to end encryption across their platforms. The campaign directly targets Apple, Google, Meta, and others for what the EFF sees as slow progress, incomplete rollouts, and weak defaults when it comes to protecting user data.
End to end encryption prevents companies from accessing the contents of messages or stored data by ensuring that only the user controls the encryption keys. According to the EFF, this remains the strongest safeguard for private communications at a time when cloud storage, cross platform messaging, and AI driven features are becoming deeply embedded in everyday products.
The Encrypt It Already campaign breaks its demands into three clear themes. The first centers on promises that companies have already made publicly but have not yet delivered. Facebook still does not offer end to end encryption for group messages. Bluesky has yet to launch encrypted direct messages. Apple and Google, despite committing to interoperable encrypted RCS messaging, have not provided a timeline for when cross platform encryption between iPhone and Android users will actually ship. While Apple has confirmed work is underway and iOS 26.3 betas suggest early technical groundwork, full support remains absent today.
The second focus is on defaults. Several popular services technically support end to end encryption, but require users to manually enable it. Telegram does not encrypt direct messages by default. WhatsApp backups remain unencrypted unless users change settings. Ring cameras also require opt in encryption. The EFF argues that privacy protections lose much of their value when they are buried behind settings that many users never touch.
The final category addresses protections that do not exist at all. The EFF wants Google to introduce end to end encrypted backups for Google Authenticator and Android device data. It is also calling on both Apple and Google to introduce per app AI permissions at the operating system level. These controls would allow users to block Apple Intelligence or Google Gemini from accessing secure messaging apps, even if that limits certain AI powered features.
Apple is prominently featured in the campaign. While iMessage has supported end to end encryption by default since 2011, and iCloud encrypts many data categories automatically, the EFF believes Apple should go further. Advanced Data Protection expands end to end encryption to iCloud backups, photos, notes, and more, but it remains optional and disabled by default. The organization also warns that encrypted RCS messaging should not be sidelined as Apple and Google continue to push AI deeper into their platforms.
Beyond encryption itself, the EFF stresses that how these features are introduced matters just as much as whether they exist. The group is urging companies to publish clear blog posts, technical documentation, and plain language explanations that outline what data is protected, what is not, and what users need to do to stay secure. Transparency and data minimization are positioned as core requirements for any credible privacy claim.
For users, the call to action is simple. Enable end to end encryption wherever it is available and make it clear to companies that stronger privacy protections are not optional. The Encrypt It Already campaign provides guidance on how to share feedback and contact companies directly, including Apple’s official feedback channels.
The EFF frames Encrypt It Already as an opening move, not a final demand. End to end encryption, it argues, should be the default standard across consumer technology, not a premium feature or a hidden setting. Until that becomes reality, the campaign is designed to keep sustained pressure on the companies shaping how personal data is stored, shared, and increasingly analyzed.
