From 57204b1bae27ec04a88aa3cde49fa79b69d81cd9 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Hayden Young <haydenyoung@wijiti.com>
Date: Sun, 9 Mar 2025 19:33:04 +0100
Subject: [PATCH] docs: Encryption.

---
 docs/ENCRYPTION.md      | 43 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 docs/GETTING_STARTED.md |  2 ++
 2 files changed, 45 insertions(+)
 create mode 100644 docs/ENCRYPTION.md

diff --git a/docs/ENCRYPTION.md b/docs/ENCRYPTION.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f83d610
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/ENCRYPTION.md
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+# Encryption
+
+OrbitDB features a modular architecture for database encryption. By passing a  module to an OrbitDB database, different encryption methods can be employed.
+
+## Encrypting Databases
+
+OrbitDB provides a simple password-based encryption module called SimpleEncryption. To implement encryption, initiate SimpleEncryption and pass it when opening your database:
+
+```js
+import { SimpleEncryption } from '@orbitdb/simple-encryption'
+
+const replication = await SimpleEncryption({ password: 'hello' })
+const data = await SimpleEncryption({ password: 'world' })
+
+const encryption = { data, replication }
+
+const db = await orbitdb.open(dbNameOrAddress, { encryption })
+```
+
+If you wish to use another encryption type, simply replace SimpleEncryption with the module of your choice.
+
+## Custom Encryption
+
+To implement a custom encryption module for OrbitDB, expose encrypt and decrypt functions:
+
+```
+const CustomEncryption = async () => {
+  const encrypt = (value) => {
+    // return encrypted value
+  }
+
+  const decrypt = (value) => {
+    // return decrypted value
+  }
+
+  return {
+    encrypt,
+    decrypt
+  }
+}
+
+export default CustomEncryption
+```
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/docs/GETTING_STARTED.md b/docs/GETTING_STARTED.md
index ee75840..810029b 100644
--- a/docs/GETTING_STARTED.md
+++ b/docs/GETTING_STARTED.md
@@ -307,3 +307,5 @@ These kinds of connectivity configurations are beyond the scope of OrbitDB. To f
 [Databases](./DATABASES.md) covers database management and data entry in more detail.
 
 [Replication](./REPLICATION.md) provides a comprehensive overview of how to perform data replication across multiple peers.
+
+[Replication](./ENCRYPTION.md) discusses database encryption using OrbitDB's modular architecture.