American cryptographer Jon Callas believes the future of human rights protection is hand-in-hand with that of encryption. Callas explains that dictatorships have always listened to dissidents’ conversations, but in this age of mass communication,they now have the technology for surveillance on a much larger scale. With encryption, however, dissidents have a powerful weapon with which to fight back to ensure that their communications are secure and protected from spying ears.Callas reminds activists that technologists are willing and able to help craft these tools for them—and he encourages them to reach out to them and explain what they need in the fight for human rights and freedom.