OpenPGP Alliance

OpenPGP Alliance is a non-proprietary protocol provided for encrypting email using public key cryptography.

OpenPGP Alliance is a non-proprietary protocol provided for encrypting email using public key cryptography. It defines standard formats for encrypted messages, signatures, and certificates for exchanging public keys. OpenPGP Alliance was formed in the Internet Engineering Task Force to define the standard that had formerly been a proprietary product since 1991. By becoming an IETF Proposed Standard, it may be implemented by any company without paying any licensing fees to anyone. By bringing companies together, OpenPGP Alliance promotes the same standard for email encryption and to apply the PKI that has emerged from its community to other non-email applications. It was founded in 1997 and is based on PGP as originally developed by Phil Zimmermann.