Without a doubt, internet privacy is one of the most debated topics as it affects the lives of every person with an internet connection. Ladar Levison's Dark Mail or DIME is an attempt to put these fears of security at rest.
Ladar Levison is the creator of the company Lavabit, a secure email provider that utilized asymmetric encryption to address the issue of privacy in today's most common email providers. Many people including Edward Snowden used this provider to communicate safely with individuals around the world. However Levison was forced into shutting down his service when the government demanded SSL keys that would jeopardize every users' personal information. Handing over such private information and putting so many people at risk solely because the government requires the access to one individual's email account is unacceptable. What's the point of having technology that addresses privacy, when the government can simply step in and legally request anything it wants, including the source code of the whole service?
This situation was an inspiration for Levison, as now he's determined to rewrite the security protocols that each computer uses to connect to the internet and transmit information. With this, information is encrypted on the lower level so that it's, ideally, virtually impossible to trace. The system is often compared to PGP, however it accomplishes many more "goals" of privacy that Levison believes in.
The problem that Levison faces is gaining support of the major companies and providers to implement his protocols into technologies that already exist. With the project gaining popularity and raising over $200,000 on Kickstarter, one can hope that Levison leads it in the right direction and continues to deliver technologies that protect our privacy.
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