Privacy Guides

When Code Became a Weapon - Crypto Wars Explained


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During the Cold War, the US government tried to stop the export of strong cryptography. In this video we'll dive into the history and explain what happened to cause this and why it was eventually overturned. The ability to use strong encryption wasn’t a given; it has been continually fought for throughout history.

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Sources: https://www.privacyguides.org/videos/2025/05/08/when-code-became-a-weapon/

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🎬 Credits

Host: Jordan Warne

Writer: Jordan Warne
Editor: Jordan Warne
Executive Producer: Jonah Aragon

Special thanks to both Philip Zimmermann and Privacy Guides team member @ph00lt0 for fact checking a final draft of this video prior to publication 🌟

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