pretty Easy privacy (p≡p or pEp) is a pluggable

data encryption In cryptography, encryption is the process of encoding information. This process converts the original representation of the information, known as plaintext, into an alternative form known as ciphertext. Ideally, only authorized parties can deci ...

and verification system, which provides automatic

cryptographic key A key in cryptography is a piece of information, usually a string of numbers or letters that are stored in a file, which, when processed through a cryptographic algorithm, can encode or decode cryptographic data. Based on the used method, the key ...

management through a set of libraries (providing p≡p adapters for application developers' used programming languages and development environments) for written digital communications. Its main goal is to make

end-to-end encryption End-to-end encryption (E2EE) is a system of communication where only the communicating users can read the messages. In principle, it prevents potential eavesdroppers – including telecommunications service providers, telecom providers, Internet ...

the default in written digital communications for all users in the easiest way possible and on the channels they already make use of, including e-mails, SMS, or other types of messages. It exists as a plugin for

Microsoft Outlook Microsoft Outlook is a personal information manager software system from Microsoft, available as a part of the Microsoft Office and Microsoft 365 software suites. Though primarily an email client, Outlook also includes such functions as Calen ...

and

Mozilla Thunderbird Mozilla Thunderbird is a free and open-source cross-platform email client, personal information manager, news client, RSS and chat client developed by the Mozilla Foundation and operated by subsidiary MZLA Technologies Corporation. The projec ...

as well as a mobile app for Android and iOS. p≡p also works under

Microsoft Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for ...

Unix-like A Unix-like (sometimes referred to as UN*X or *nix) operating system is one that behaves in a manner similar to a Unix system, although not necessarily conforming to or being certified to any version of the Single UNIX Specification. A Unix-li ...

and,

Mac OS X macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac computers. Within the market of desktop and lap ...

operating system An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware, software resources, and provides common daemon (computing), services for computer programs. Time-sharing operating systems scheduler (computing), schedule tasks for ef ...

s. Its

cryptographic Cryptography, or cryptology (from grc, , translit=kryptós "hidden, secret"; and ''graphein'', "to write", or '' -logia'', "study", respectively), is the practice and study of techniques for secure communication in the presence of adv ...

functionality is handled by an

open-source Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open-source model is a decentralized so ...

p≡p engine relying on already existing cryptographic implementations in software like

GnuPG GNU Privacy Guard (GnuPG or GPG) is a free-software replacement for Symantec's PGP cryptographic software suite. The software is compliant with RFC 4880, the IETF standards-track specification of OpenPGP. Modern versions of PGP are interoperabl ...

, a modified version of

netpgp netpgp is a BSD licensed project based on the OpenPGP SDK which provides signing, verification, encryption, and decryption of files. It also comes with the netpgpkeys tool for key management. Netpgp is a higher level wrapper and improvement u ...

(used only in iOS), and (as of p≡p v2.0) GNUnet. In its default configuration, p≡p does not rely on a

web of trust In cryptography, a web of trust is a concept used in PGP, GnuPG, and other OpenPGP-compatible systems to establish the authenticity of the binding between a public key and its owner. Its decentralized trust model is an alternative to the ce ...

or any form of centralized trust infrastructure, but instead lets users verify each other's authenticity by comparing cryptographic fingerprints in the form of

natural language In neuropsychology, linguistics, and philosophy of language, a natural language or ordinary language is any language that has evolved naturally in humans through use and repetition without conscious planning or premeditation. Natural languages ...

strings, which the p≡p developers have chosen to call "trust words". pretty Easy privacy was first released in 2016. All software already released, including p≡p engine, adapters, apps and add-ons (including Microsoft Outlook), is

free and open-source software Free and open-source software (FOSS) is a term used to refer to groups of software consisting of both free software and open-source software where anyone is freely licensed to use, copy, study, and change the software in any way, and the source ...

. In March 2021, it was revealed that the company behind pEp paid for fake reviews for their apps.

Design principles

Above all, p≡p – supposedly contrary to existing cryptographic solutions – should be easy to install, use and understand. Furthermore, for their communications, p≡p users do not depend on any specific platform, message transport system (SMS, email, XMPP, etc.), or centrally provided client–server or "cloud" infrastructures: p≡p is fully

peer-to-peer Peer-to-peer (P2P) computing or networking is a distributed application architecture that partitions tasks or workloads between peers. Peers are equally privileged, equipotent participants in the network. They are said to form a peer-to-peer ...

by design. Keys are exchanged opportunistically by transferring via email.

Enigmail support

Enigmail Enigmail is a data encryption and decryption extension for Mozilla Thunderbird and the Postbox that provides OpenPGP public key e-mail encryption and signing. Enigmail works under Microsoft Windows, Unix-like, and Mac OS X operating systems. En ...

announced its support for the new "pretty Easy privacy" (p≡p) encryption scheme in a joint

Thunderbird Thunderbird, thunder bird or thunderbirds may refer to: * Thunderbird (mythology), a legendary creature in certain North American indigenous peoples' history and culture * Ford Thunderbird, a car Birds * Dromornithidae, extinct flightless birds ...

extension to be released in December 2015. Patrick Brunschwig, the head of Enigmail, announced to have p≡p core functionality implemented in Enigmail during October 2016, ready for Mozilla Festival then taking place in London. In July 2020, Thunderbird 78 dropped support for the Enigmail Add-On. Thunderbird 78 includes OpenPGP functionality, and no longer requires the installation of external software.

ISOC support

Internet Society Switzerland Chapter (ISOC-CH) and the Swiss p≡p foundation teamed up to provide a practical solution, namely to implement privacy-enhancing standards at the basic level of internet protocols and document them in the work of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), the main organization creating voluntary standards to maintain and improve the usability and interoperability of the internet.

References

External links

*
Official p≡p foundation website

{{Cryptographic software Cryptographic software Security

Design principles

Enigmail support

ISOC support

See also

References

External links