Competition is intense for the control of personal data, which some observers call the “new oil” of the twenty-first century. Facebook’s market value illustrates the value of maintaining detailed data about more than 1 billion people. Companies constantly seek to obtain increasing amounts of data on all of us so that they can more precisely target advertising messages to each of us. For example, the ubiquitous “Like” and “Share” buttons deployed by Web sites to make it easier to promote their content enable Facebook (via Facebook Connect) to track people online. 

However, the National Security Agency spying scandal has generated new fears on the part of Web surfers of being tracked and traced by countless ad networks, data miners, and data brokers. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is pressuring browser companies, consumer advocates, and advertisers to establish a “Do Not Track” option for Internet users. Negotiations have broken down, however, because advertisers and privacy advocates cannot agree on how much protection consumers are entitled to.

A Variety of Solutions

As a result of the privacy problem, in recent years a number of companies have launched that provide privacy and software tools. Let’s take a closer look at some of them.

• Snapchat (www.snapchat.com): This smartphone app is a

picture and video viewer that allows users to send pictures or videos that self-destruct after a few seconds. The app also contains a notification feature that lets you know if someone performs a “screen grab” of any photos that you send.

• Wickr (https://www.mywickr.com): This smartphone app allows users to send military-grade encrypted texts, photos, and videos to other Wickr users. In addition, it deletes information such as location and type of device from files

before sending them. Nothing is stored on Wickr’s servers that could be used to track (or subpoena) the sender.

• Burn Note (https://burnnote.com): This smartphone app sends encrypted notes that self-destruct after a set amount of time. The notes are deleted from the recipient’s com- puter, and they are not stored on Burn Note servers. Burn Note also displays only a specific highlighted area of a note as the recipient mouses over it. As a result, it is difficult for a screenshot to capture an entire note.

• TigerText (www.tigertext.com): This app is marketed to businesses—particularly healthcare—that require a secure messaging system. For example, your physician can use TigerText to securely text X-rays of your knee to a colleague. TigerText also allows senders to retrieve messages that they have already sent.

• Reputation (www.reputation.com): This company manages its clients’ online reputation by making individuals and businesses look their best on the Internet. Reputation will search for damaging content online and destroy it. In addition, it helps its clients prevent private information from being made public.

• Silent Circle (https://silentcircle.com): This company produces a smartphone app that allows people to easily make secure, encrypted phone calls and send secure, encrypted texts. In addition, the sender can specify a time period after which the file will automatically be deleted from both devices (sending and receiving). Silent Circle makes life easier and safer for journalists, political dissidents, diplomats, and companies that are trying to evade state surveillance or corporate espionage.

As one example, in early 2013 a reporter in South Sudan used Silent Circle to record a video of brutality that occurred at a vehicle checkpoint. He then encrypted the video and sent it to Europe. Within a few minutes, the video was automatically deleted from the sender’s device. This way, even if authorities  had arrested and searched the sender, they would not have found the footage on his phone. Meanwhile, the film, which included location data indicating exactly where it was taken, was already in safe hands. It was eventually used to build a case documenting human rights abuses.

From a different perspective, law enforcement agencies have expressed concerns that criminals will use the Silent Circle app. The FBI, for instance, wants all communications providers to build in back doors (discussed in Chapter 4) so that the agency can secretly spy on suspects. Silent Circle, however, has implemented an explicit policy that it will not comply with eavesdropping requests from law enforcement entities.

• Personal (www.personal.com) provides users with personal data lockers in which they store information about themselves in a single account. Businesses would pay for this data because the data enable them to offer personalized products and advertising. Further, people retain control over the data in their lockers, so they can demand something of value in return, such as cash or discounts on products.

• iPredator (https://www.ipredator.se) is a virtual private networking service (discussed in Chapter 4) whose stated goal is to provide Internet privacy.

• Disconnect (https://disconnect.me) is a shareware tool that places a green “D” next to the search bar and displays the number of requests for your personal data that are being made on that Web site, as well as the companies requesting the data. Disconnect then blocks those requests, thereby dramatically speeding up surfing. (Shareware is software that is available free of charge and is often distributed for consumer evaluation, after which the provider might request a fee for continued use.) The most current version of  Disconnect blocks more than 2,000 parties from collecting your data.

• Burner (http://burnerapp.com) is an iPhone app that provides temporary phone numbers, so you can send and receive calls and texts from disposable digits. After you have finished your business, you “nuke” the number so that it cannot be easily traced back to you. Unlike Silent Circle, Burner complies with law enforcement requests.

Question

 Describe how each of the companies discussed above can protect your privacy in some way.