Christopher Soghoian: How to avoid surveillance ... with the phone in your pocket

How to avoid surveillance ... with the phone in your pocket

Who is listening in on your phone calls? On a landline, it could be anyone, says privacy activist Christopher Soghoian, because surveillance backdoors are built into the phone system by default, to allow governments to listen in. But then again, so could a foreign intelligence service ... or a criminal. Which is why, says Soghoian, some tech companies are resisting governments' call to build the same backdoors into mobile phones and new messaging systems. From this TED Fellow, learn how some tech companies are working to keep your calls and messages private.

For over a century, telephone companies hardwired surveillance into their networks, making calls easy to tap not just for governments, but for hackers and criminals too. In recent years, major tech firms have flipped the script by embedding strong encryption in everyday devices and messaging apps, making mass surveillance nearly impossible. Governments are frustrated, especially because this encryption is turned on by default, protecting billions of conversations worldwide. As history shows, backdoors intended for law enforcement have been repeatedly exploited by foreign powers and criminals, putting everyone’s privacy at risk.