Geeksphone, Silent Circle to Make Blackphone that is NSA-Proof
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National Security Administration's (NSA) snooping ways is the gain of Silent Circle, a D.C.-based encrypted communications service, and Geeksphone, a Spain-based smartphone startup company. The two will soon make available to the technology world an NSA-proof mobile phone to be called Blackphone, reports Huffington Post.
A press statement by the two companies said the device will be the first smartphone that places premium on privacy and places control directly in the hands of its owner, away from the snooping eyes and ears of governments.
Cryptographer and co-founder of Silent Circle, Phil Zimmermann, said more details of how the Blackphone would work will be made public at the Mobile World Congress on Feb 24 in Barcelona, Spain. The event marks the official unveiling of the NSA-proof communication device.
The statement said consumers could pre-order the Blackphone on the same day.
The device would be powered by PrivatOs, a security-oriented Android build that provides users "the ability to make and receive secure phone calls, exchange secure texts, transfer and store files, and video chart without compromising user privacy on the device."
Although TechCrunch pointed out that Blackphone actually is not the first encrypted smartphone, it could set a new trend among device makers to boost security features of their units. Natasha Lomas of the tech Web site wrote that NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden had sparked higher public interest in security and privacy.
"The fallout from Snowden's big reveal is clearly attracting new players to what could potentially become a much more mainstream space," Ms Lomas said.