Encryption Providers Lavabit and Silent Circle End Service

image
Published: 12 Aug, 2013
Updated: 14 Oct, 2022
3 min read

 

(Credit: digitaltrends.com)

(Credit: digitaltrends.com)

While President Barack Obama held a one-hour news conference last Friday to discuss, among other topics, the NSA's surveillance of Americans' e-mails and phone records, two e-mail providers shut down their encryption services. One was voluntary and the other was likely the result of government coercion.

The first company to shut down its service was Lavabit. Hours after this on Friday, Silent Circle followed suit by shutting down its e-mail service, Silent Mail.

NSA leaker Edward Snowden, a one-time Lavabit user, used the service as recently as July in a briefing at the Moscow airport.

Lavabit owner Ladar Levison announced it was shutting down its service with all implications pointing to a US government directive. In his own words, Levison stated he took this course of action so he would not be "complicit in crimes against the American people." Levison also announced that he could not legally speak about the case, saying:

"I wish that I could legally share with you the events that led to my decision. . . . the first amendment is supposed to guarantee me the freedom to speak out in situations like this. Unfortunately, Congress has passed laws that say otherwise. [So] I cannot share my experiences over the last six weeks."

Lavabit is beginning the appeal process to the US Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals over the pressure to shut down its service and hand over its data. In a particularly jarring admission, Levison also said, "I would strongly recommend against anyone trusting their private data to a company with physical ties to the United States" (emphasis in original).

he was "looking into setting up a site where users can download their data and set up a forwarding address." However, Levison also said, "I will make it clear that I don't plan to use any encryption for that site. [People] should only use it if they feel comfortable with the information being intercepted. And yes, I do plan to have that disclaimer on the site."

In an interview with CNET, Levison said

In an online post to its users, Silent Circle announced that, in contrast to its competitor, it had not been served with warrants or subpoenas. Silent Circle announced they are cutting their services because they "see the writing on the wall" and decided to get out of the business before government pressure escalated. Silent Circle users' messages were deleted on Friday morning.

IVP Donate

However, Silent Circle's CEO, Michael Janke revealed that the company might have been next on the government's list:

"There are some very high profile people on Silent Circle - and I mean very targeted people - as well as heads of state, human rights groups, reporters, special operations units from many countries. We wanted to be proactive because we knew USG [US government] would come after us due to the sheer amount of people who use us - let alone the 'highly targeted high profile people.'"

In an interview with Forbes, Silent Circle co-founder Phil Zimmerman said the company is planning on adding servers in Switzerland, where government surveillance is believed to be less invasive. He also recommended Hush Mail for a secure e-mail service, although Hush Mail has also had its run-ins with the government.

As they stand today, the cases of Lavabit and Silent Circle are different, although not markedly so. Lavabit appears to have been bullied by the US government in an effort to track messages to, from, or about the leaker Snowden. If government pressure to force private companies to relinquish customers' data continues, more companies may take the route of Silent Circle and surrender pre-emptively. However, the cases of e-mail encryption providers Lavabit and Silent Circle speak to the lengths the US government is seeking in monitoring American citizens and its efforts to capture Edward Snowden.

Latest articles

CA capitol building dome with flags.
Why is CA Senator Mike McGuire Trying to Kill the Legal Cannabis Industry?
California’s legal cannabis industry is under mounting pressure, and in early June, state lawmakers and the governor appeared poised to help. A bill to freeze the state’s cannabis excise tax at 15% sailed through the State Assembly with a unanimous 74-0 vote. The governor’s office backed the plan. And legal cannabis businesses, still struggling to compete with unregulated sellers and mounting operating costs, saw a glimmer of hope....
03 Jul, 2025
-
7 min read
I voted buttons
After First RCV Election, Charlottesville Voters Back the Reform: 'They Get It, They Like It, They Want to Do It Again'
A new survey out of Charlottesville, Virginia, shows overwhelming support for ranked choice voting (RCV) following the city’s first use of the system in its June Democratic primary for City Council. Conducted one week after the election, the results found that nearly 90% of respondents support continued use of RCV....
03 Jul, 2025
-
3 min read
Crowd in Time Square.
NYC Exit Survey: 96% of Voters Understood Their Ranked Choice Ballots
An exit poll conducted by SurveyUSA on behalf of the nonprofit better elections group FairVote finds that ranked choice voting (RCV) continues to be supported by a vast majority of voters who find it simple, fair, and easy to use. The findings come in the wake of the city’s third use of RCV in its June 2025 primary elections....
01 Jul, 2025
-
6 min read