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# UN Ditches Google for Taking Form Submissions, Opts for an Open Source Solution Instead
- URL: https://itsfoss.com/news/un-ditches-google-form/
- Published: 2025-05-02T06:18:27.000Z
- Updated: 2025-05-02T06:18:27.000Z
- Description: The United Nations opts for an open source alternative to Google Forms.
- Author: Sourav Rudra
- Tags: Privacy 🛡️, News, #Import 2025-11-08 21:15

Formed in 1945 after the second World War, the [United Nations](https://www.un.org/en/?ref=itsfoss.com) (*UN*) is an international organization tasked with promoting peace, security, and cooperation among countries.

While recent events might make you question **if they are effective at what they do**, it is good to have a forum where the world's nations can come together to deliberate and vote on critical issues.

Interestingly, [CryptPad](https://itsfoss.com/cryptpad/) has now become the preferred platform for collecting form submissions, at least for one of their recent initiatives.

## UN Adopts CryptPad: What to Expect?

![a screenshot of the united nations open source principles endorsement form made using cryptpad](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/2025/05/un-open-source-principles-endorsement-form.png)

As part of the **UN Open Source Principles** initiative, the UN has invited other organizations to support and officially endorse [these principles](https://unite.un.org/news/osi-first-endorse-united-nations-open-source-principles?ref=itsfoss.com#:~:text=across%20the%20organization.-,The%20UN%20Open%20Source%20Principles,-Open%20by%20default). To collect responses, they are using CryptPad instead of [Google Forms](https://workspace.google.com/products/forms/?ref=itsfoss.com).

This initiative aims to promote the adoption of open source technologies within the UN, while encouraging collaboration, ensuring transparency, and safeguarding user data.

If you don't know about [CryptPad](https://cryptpad.org/?ref=itsfoss.com), it is **a privacy-focused, open source online collaboration office suite** that encrypts all of its content, doesn't log IP addresses, and supports a wide range of collaborative documents and tools for people to use.

![Cryptpad interface](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/2025/05/image.png)

While this happened [back in late March](https://fosstodon.org/@cryptpad/114234197713107222?ref=itsfoss.com), we thought it would be a good idea to let people know that a well-known global governing body like the UN was slowly moving towards integrating open source tech into their organization.

So far, **the UN seems to be moving in the correct direction** with their UN Open Source Principles initiative, ditching the user data hungry Google Form, and opting for a much more secure and privacy-focused CryptPad.

They’ve already secured the [endorsement of sixteen organizations](https://unite.un.org/news/sixteen-organizations-endorse-un-open-source-principles?ref=itsfoss.com), including notable names like *The Document Foundation*, *Open Source Initiative*, *Eclipse Foundation*, *ZenDiS*, *The Linux Foundation*, and *The GNOME Foundation*.

I sincerely hope the UN continues its push away from proprietary [Big Tech](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big%5FTech?ref=itsfoss.com) solutions in favor of more open, privacy-respecting alternatives, integrating more of their workflow with such tools.

**Via:** [FOSS Force](https://fossforce.com/2025/04/un-drops-google-for-cryptpad-an-encrypted-open-source-office-suite/?ref=itsfoss.com)