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Secure smartphone out soon
WASHINGTON - It is a fully encrypted smartphone which aims to foil snooping governments, industry rivals and hackers.
It is also a sleek, attractive device that fits in your pocket and can impress friends and colleagues, according to its makers.
The Blackphone is set to be released next month by secure communications firm Silent Circle and Spanish-based manufacturer Geeksphone, amid concern over revelations about vast US surveillance of data and telephony.
But Silent Circle chief executive Mike Janke said his company was working on the handset even before last year's revelations about the wide-ranging United States National Security Agency programmes, leaked by former contractor Edward Snowden.
"We did this because there was a problem that was not being solved - secure communications," Mr Janke said in an interview.
Silent Circle was formed in 2011, and last year, it launched apps and other services which allow smartphone and PC users to send encrypted messages and videos.
The Blackphone is an extension of that effort, said Mr Janke, a former US Navy Seal Who co-founded the firm with other ex-Seals and Silicon Valley cryptographic experts.
"We offer completely encrypted, peer-to-peer communications. We have encrypted video, encrypted text and secure voice-over-Internet-protocol calls," he said.
Silent Circle customers include major global corporations, human rights activists and even the Tibetan government in exile.
Because of its work, he said, "almost all of the major smartphone manufacturers came to us" to work on a more secure smartphone.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
WASHINGTON - It is a fully encrypted smartphone which aims to foil snooping governments, industry rivals and hackers.
It is also a sleek, attractive device that fits in your pocket and can impress friends and colleagues, according to its makers.
The Blackphone is set to be released next month by secure communications firm Silent Circle and Spanish-based manufacturer Geeksphone, amid concern over revelations about vast US surveillance of data and telephony.
But Silent Circle chief executive Mike Janke said his company was working on the handset even before last year's revelations about the wide-ranging United States National Security Agency programmes, leaked by former contractor Edward Snowden.
"We did this because there was a problem that was not being solved - secure communications," Mr Janke said in an interview.
Silent Circle was formed in 2011, and last year, it launched apps and other services which allow smartphone and PC users to send encrypted messages and videos.
The Blackphone is an extension of that effort, said Mr Janke, a former US Navy Seal Who co-founded the firm with other ex-Seals and Silicon Valley cryptographic experts.
"We offer completely encrypted, peer-to-peer communications. We have encrypted video, encrypted text and secure voice-over-Internet-protocol calls," he said.
Silent Circle customers include major global corporations, human rights activists and even the Tibetan government in exile.
Because of its work, he said, "almost all of the major smartphone manufacturers came to us" to work on a more secure smartphone.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
