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Silent Circle Follows Lavabit By Closing Encrypted E-mail Service

Okian Warrior writes "Silent Circle shuttered its encrypted e-mail service on Thursday, in an apparent attempt to avoid government scrutiny that may threaten its customers' privacy. The company announced that it could 'see the writing on the wall' and decided it would be best to shut down its Silent Mail feature. 'We’ve been debating this for weeks, and had changes planned starting next Monday. We’d considered phasing the service out, continuing service for existing customers, and a variety of other things up until today. It is always better to be safe than sorry, and with your safety we decided that the worst decision is always no decision.' The company said it was inspired by the closure earlier Thursday of Lavabit, another encrypted e-mail service provider that alluded to a possible national security investigation." Does anyone have replacement recommendations for people who used these services?

11 of 470 comments (clear)

  1. Nicely done by beefoot · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The US government is basically forcing technology firms to move else where.

    1. Re:Nicely done by flitty · · Score: 5, Insightful

      1. Force shutdown of US based communications companies for non-compliance with PRISM.
      2. Suddenly, all commucation is "foreign".
      3. All communications are now collectible without any oversight.

      --
      Whether or not there is some sort of god, I'm not supposed to say/god is a word and the argument ends there-Smog
    2. Re:Nicely done by SteveFoerster · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The sad thing is that I now remember fondly when Obama was compared to Carter. Now it's more like he's channelling Nixon.

      --
      Space game using normal deck of cards: http://BattleCards.org
    3. Re:Nicely done by SteveFoerster · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I agree. For things to have gotten this bad, there's an awful lot of blame to go around. For example, the judicial branch isn't any better here either.

      --
      Space game using normal deck of cards: http://BattleCards.org
    4. Re:Nicely done by anagama · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Godwin's law is correctly invoked in a context where comparing a person/action/entity/whatever to Hitler or Nazis is hyperbolic -- it's sort of an insult to those millions who died in the holocaust when someone calls their boss a Hitler because they have to go into work early.

      But, when the comparison starts to fit, Godwin's law doesn't apply, precisely because the comparison fits.

      So for example, the Nazis focused on a religious/ethnic group and killed millions of them by factory methods.

      Americans focus on a particular religious/ethnic group, and kill millions by war, drone strike, and the most devastating weapon of all, economic and trade sanctions.

      So the question is, is the way the US is systematically destroying a racial/ethnic group different enough from that the Nazis used, such that Godwin's law may be validly invoked. If not, that's sort of "holy fuck" territory, a place that is very hard to go to intellectually -- so if your knee jerk reply is that Godwin's does apply you should examine that closely because it is really hard to tell yourself, that you're an evil cretin and so much easier to go with the kneejerk.

      --
      What changed under Obama? Nothing Good
  2. Re:Weird! by intermodal · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The same thing the Fourth Amendment is for. Keeping out people who have no business reading your mail.

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    In SOVIET RUSSIA... erm...NSA AMERICA, the Internet logs onto YOU!
  3. Re:Weird! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So i guess, you didn't use envelopes for your mail before email?
    Why use clothes even? What do you have to hide?
    Why whisper?

    That's right... it's called privacy.

  4. NSL order to not reveal NSLs by KiloByte · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I don't think Silent Circle would commit an effective suicide just preventively. Lavabit, while technically not saying a word about NSLs, told us very clearly what the request was. If the government criminals are not idiots, they learned and worded the Silent Circle order in a way that prevented such disclosure.

    --
    The creatures outside looked from Alt-Right to Antifa; but already it was impossible to say which was which.
  5. Re:NSA or Chinese great firewall by sacrilicious · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Yes, that's what the official story may be... but who knows? Just two or three days ago was the whole exposing of how the government admitted that they have been coming up with "alternate explanations" of how they get various pieces of intelligence so that the official explanations don't point to prism/etc. So truly, how can we possibly know?

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    - First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then ???, then profit.
  6. Re:Simple option(s)... by Type44Q · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Or, we could all go back to writing letters. Oddly enough, that still has more legal protections behind it than any other form of communication.

    The entire point of all these [not necessarily so recent] revelations is that legal protections are no protection.

  7. Re:Weird! by gstoddart · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So what'd be "encrypted email" for? Horny partners? Surprise birthday parties?

    Who gives a damn?

    I see no reason to defend the situations in which I could choose to encrypt something. I am not going to open my stuff up to you so that I can prove I'm not a terrorist unless you have something to suggest that I am. That's not how it works in a free society.

    This "we'll assume everyone is guilty and ignore the ones we don't care about" mentality is crap, and in complete opposition to privacy, freedom, and everything else the US claims to hold so dear.

    It doesn't matter if I'm discussing something I'd like to patent, my financial statements, my medical condition, having an affair, or planning to BASE jump off a building -- it's none of the governments business, and without evidence to suggest I'm doing something they need to be concerned about, they can fuck off.

    This is just an undue control over your citizens, and sadly, everyone else on the planet since these guys are tapping pretty much everything.

    That more an more people might choose to encrypt on general principles is something the NSA is just going to have to learn to deal with -- because I see no point in helping them any more than I can avoid.

    America is rapidly becoming some of the same things they used to criticize the Soviets for. And that is sad.

    --
    Lost at C:>. Found at C.