The US government’s over-reaching intrusions into the digital privacy of its citizens, most evident in the Snowden leaks, seems to be a great example of pushing past the breaking point. Users were generally aware of, and tolerated, some minor level of spying, but once the full extent was made known, companies across the globe are scrambling to provide better security. Apple and Google are now both working to make their mobile operating systems as secure as secure and encrypted as possible. The result is that the government is going to have a harder time spying on people, and the director the FBI is going public with his concerns that the use of encryption has ‘gone too far’. Here’s a recent interview on 60 minutes, or read more at AppleInsider.
Well it’s their own darn fault, you know. They abused the trust people had in government, now the pendulum swings the other way and we seize back our privacy.
The Anonabox is a new project launching on Kickstarter (funding closes on 11/11)., that helps make it easier for people to use the internet anonymously. It’s a small router, that sends all data over the Tor network, and costs $51. Users still need to be careful about their own computer though…cookies in your browser leave a trail of virtual breadcrumbs that can be analyzed (requires access to your computer though) – but private session browsing, or using the Tor browser, can help protect against that. I like the idea of this product…if installed upstream of your current router, it can protect all data traveling outside of your own personal network, with no software installation required on each device on your network. Just plug and play. Read more at the Kickstarter page, or at Wired.