the IGF within the Dynamic Coalition on Child Online Safety. UNICEF has research, policy development and awareness-building activities on child safety and digital citizenship. The ITU has launched a Child Online Protection initiative. The European programs INSAFE and INHOPE are important regional mechanisms which scope reaches beyond Europe. NGOs play an important role, both maintaining strong networks focused on awareness, education, monitoring, information sharing, and alerts (call centres), and through lobbying to establish governance mechanisms in this field. Particularly active NGOs are the Internet Watch Foundation, the International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children, ECPAT International, Save the Children, and the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre. Interpol and Europol are developing implementation mechanisms for the protection of children online. Possible gaps in dealing with child safety online The mechanisms analysed appear to indicate the existence of a policy gap in the coordination of various policy initiatives and activities. There is also insufficient inclusion of concerned actors in international policy activities (e.g. international organisations, Internet industry, NGOs, youth and children associations). The review also indicates a policy gap in intersectoral coordination in dealing with child safety online (e.g. security, human rights, education). 3.6 Encryption Encryption refers to the scrambling of electronic documents and communication into an unreadable format which can be read only through the use of encryption software. In recent two years, the question of encryption has come into sharper focus for the global public. Status of governance mechanisms for encryption The main international instrument that deals with the encryption is the Wassenaar Agreement, adopted by 41 countries to restrict the export of conventional weapons and ‘dual use’ technologies to countries at war or considered to be ‘pariah states’. The main question is how to find the right balance between the need to respect the privacy of online communication and the need for governments to monitor some types of communication of relevance for national security. Encryption is most directly related to the following Internet policy issues: cloud computing (encryption of data exchanged among servers in cloud – particularly important for Internet companies to ensure protection of users’ data), technical standards, the Internet of Things, cybercrime, privacy, data protection, jurisdiction, intermediaries, e-commerce, e-payment, consumer protection, access, and content policy. 22

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