Thursday 16 January 2014

Silent Circle announces Android 'Blackphone' plans to avoid NSA snoops

A man in an alleyway using a mobile phone
Secure communications service provider Silent Circle has announced plans to release a new unmonitorable smartphone, codenamed the Blackphone.
The phone is a joint collaboration between Silent Circle and Geeksphone and is due to appear for the first time at Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona in February.
Details about the Blackphone remain vague, but it has been confirmed to run using a heavily altered version of Google's Android operating system, named PrivatOS.
PrivatOS will use Silent Circle's custom messaging and communication technologies to let users securely make and receive phone calls, exchange texts, transfer and store files and video chat, without fear that their activities are being monitored or recorded.
Pretty good privacy (PGP) encryption protocol creator and Silent Circle president Phil Zimmermann said the Blackphone will let users have full control over what data is stored and sent from their smartphone.
"I have spent my whole career working towards the launch of secure telephony products," said Zimmermann. "Blackphone provides users with everything they need to ensure privacy and control of their communications, along with all the other high-end smartphone features they have come to expect."
At the time of publishing Silent Circle had not responded to V3's request for further details about the Blackphone's internal specifications, UK release date or price, though the phone is listed as being available for pre-order from 24 February.
The Blackphone's announcement follows widespread concerns about governments' communication-monitoring operations. The concerns began in 2013 when whistleblower Edward Snowden leaked documents to the press revealing the US National Security Agency's PRISM spy campaign.
The campaign has led many companies to consider more drastic counter-spying measures. Deutsche Telekom announced plans to protect its customers from government spy agencies by changing its processes to route local internet traffic through domestic servers only in October 2013.

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