Development status Active | Operating system | |
Developer(s) p≡p Foundation (Switzerland), p≡p Security AG (Switzerland), p≡p Security SA (Luxembourg) Initial release July 4, 2016 (2016-07-04) Written in ASN.1, C, C#, C++, Objective-C, Java, JavaScript, Python, Swift, SQL, YML2 Type Addon, App, Cryptography, Extension, Framework, Library, Plugin, UI, UX | ||
pretty Easy privacy (p≡p) is a pluggable data encryption and verification system, which provides automatic cryptographic 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 turn the default in written digital communications towards end-to-end encryption for all users in the most easy way possible and on all channels they use already today, including e-mails, SMS or other types of messages.
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It exists as plugin for Microsoft Outlook and Mozilla Thunderbird and also as a mobile app for Android as beta while an iOS app is under development. p≡p works under Microsoft Windows, Unix-like, Mac OS X operating systems and also under Android. Its cryptographic functionality is handled by open source p≡p engine relying on already existing cryptographic implementations in software like GnuPG, a modified version of netpgp (used only in iOS) and (as of p≡p v2.0) GNUnet.
In its default configuration, pEp does not rely on a web of trust or any form of centralised trust infrastructure, but instead lets users verify each others' authenticity by comparing cryptographic fingerprints in the form of natural language strings, which the pEp developers have chosen to call "trustwords".
pretty Easy privacy was first released in 2016. All source code of software already released, that is of p≡p engine, adapters, apps and addons (including Microsoft Outlook) are free and open-source software.
Design principles
Above all, p≡p – contrary to existing cryptographic solutions – shall be easy to install, use and understand. Furthermore, for their communications p≡p users don’t depend on any specific (web or operating system) platform, message transport system (SMS, E- Mail, XMPP etc.) or centrally provided client–server or "cloud" infrastructures: p≡p is 100% peer-to-peer by design.
Enigmail support
Enigmail has announced its support for the new "pretty Easy privacy" (p≡p) encryption scheme in a joint Thunderbird extension to be released in December 2015. As of June 2016 according to a p≡p FAQ note it will be available in Q3 2016 and Patrick Brunschwig, head of Enigmail himself, announced to have p≡p core functionality implemented in Enigmail during October 2016, ready for Mozilla Festival then taking place in London.