Good news: "NSA backlash sparks new technology"

[BelgianMadCow]

From Silicon Valley to the South Pacific, counterattacks to revelations of widespread National Security Agency surveillance are taking shape, from a surge of new encrypted email programs to technology that sprinkles the internet with red flag terms to confuse would-be snoops.

Policy makers, privacy advocates and political leaders around the world have been outraged at the near weekly disclosures from former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden that expose sweeping U.S. government surveillance programs.

"Until this summer, people didn't know anything about the NSA," said Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford University co-director Amy Zegart. "Their own secrecy has come back to bite them."

Activists are fighting back with high-tech civil disobedience, entrepreneurs want to cash in on privacy concerns, internet users want to keep snoops out of their computers and lawmakers want to establish stricter parameters.

From my new news bookmark, CBC, hat tip laundry_queen

I especially like the Germany based encrypted email provider Posteo that even allows you to pay cash in brown envelopes. After all, we know how Swift is compromised and thereby all credit card transactions.

What I'd really like is an open source explosion, as a result of the NSA/GCHQ/etc disclosures. When will there be social media I can trust?

[Jeffersons Ghost]

1. Where was Zegart during the Bush administration when he ordered the NSA to conduct similar activity

"Until this summer, people didn't know anything about the NSA," said Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford University co-director Amy Zegart. "Their own secrecy has come back to bite them."

[Recursion]

2. Email encryption doesn't protect metadata

Just a caveat, there. Only the data section of the email is encrypted, but that's for the most part not what the NSA is looking at.

That said, hackers and organized crime are, so encrypt your emails.

For social media, check out the diaspora project.