[Vision2020] Startpage: The World's Most Private Search Engine, Offers Startmail Mid 2013

Wed Jun 19 12:57:04 PDT 2013

Interesting - thanks for sharing this, Ted.

I'm going to take this opportunity share a couple of comments  J

I am really frustrated & somewhat disgusted by all the outrage about the
whole NSA & PRISM revelations.  Do I agree with repeated and ongoing
decisions US citizens and our legislators have oh, so willingly, made in the
name of some pretend sense of security?  Heck NO, and I also don't agree
with the monitoring.

But, honestly, what the heck do folks expect given our long history of
giving away privacy in general?!  We have long allowed business - big and
small - to collect and to use our personal info, including selling that data
to other businesses, without even a whimper from probably 99.9% of the
population.  And, believe me when I say that the whole PRISM affair
absolutely pales in comparison to the personal info you've freely been
giving away to business for quite a few years now.

I remember lots of kudos from folks about HIPPA (medical records privacy),
but how many of you are aware that HIPPA was a very belated attempt to shut
the barn door long after the horse had gotten out?  For years, our medical
privacy was violated by Big Business health insurers, again, without even a
whimper from 99% of the population.

Then, add to that the "patriot" craze that followed the 9/11 bombing & has
continued to this day - those daring to raise the red flag about privacy
concerns and any childish notion that privacy compromises were going to make
us "safe" were labeled unpatriotic, terrorists, and so forth.  Indeed, many
of those expressing outrage about the NSA, PRISM, etc. are some of those
very same folks who shrilly branded as unpatriotic those of us who saw the
very real risks of the whole "in the name of national security" illusion.

Further, some of the quarters that are whining the loudest about this latest
non-scandal (at least, for anyone with connected brain cells) are the very
ones who continue to advocate propping the privacy door wide open to
intrusive government for causes they support.  Consider, for a moment, the
issues of equal protection under the law with respect to gay rights and also
reproductive rights.  Around this nation - and Idaho is certainly no
exception - folks are advocating what amounts to medical rape with those
mandatory transvaginal ultrasounds prior to pregnancy termination, and they
think inserting government into the private relationship between me and my
legal health care provider is somehow justified.  Relegating women to
"breeder" status is the direction they want to move.  Somehow, that's OK,
but collecting user data from Big Business is beyond outrageous.
Seriously?!

And, in Idaho, our favorite GOP morons continue to make silly arguments
against "gay marriage" in the name of "protecting the sanctity of marriage"
(read:  "our warped interpretation of the Christian Bible"), and they want
to ban efforts of communities around the state to provide equal protection.
But, again, government collecting user data from Big Business (which, IMHO,
is only whining because they got caught with their pants down cooperating,
to varying degrees) is some "huge scandal."  Riiight.

Ted, I don't know the answer to your question about StartMail, but I suspect
the answer is likely related to StartPage's small size.

For more discussion about online privacy in general, folks might want to
read the following links I happen to have handy.  Note:  they are written
for laypersons, not techies, so you may - or may not - find them informative
and/or helpful.

http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/privacy-please-new-technologies-could-hide
-your-identity-online-6C10298245

http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/6-things-you-can-do-now-be-stealthier-inte
rnet-6C10312932

Saundra Lund

Moscow, ID

We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals. 
~ Immanuel Kant

From: vision2020-bounces at moscow.com [mailto:vision2020-bounces at moscow.com]
On Behalf Of Ted Moffett
Sent: Tuesday, June 18, 2013 2:45 PM
To: Moscow Vision 2020
Subject: [Vision2020] Startpage: The World's Most Private Search Engine,
Offers Startmail Mid 2013

https://startpage.com/

>From the website above:

Take a deep breath. You're safe here.

Click here <https://startpage.com/eng/prism-program-exposed.html>  to learn
how StartPage protects you from government surveillance.

-----------------------------------------

According to this source, those behind Startpage.com will soon offer an
email service, Startmail,     https://www.startmail.com/

I heard about this last night on AM Coast to Coast talk radio.  

But consider what this source claims about the security offered:

Federal spy agencies "have the expertise to overcome any kind of encryption
system that is used in commercial systems!"

http://irregulartimes.com/index.php/archives/2013/06/14/ixquick-and-startpag
e-are-starting-an-email-service-more-secure-than-gmail/

June 14, 2013

Now, IxQuick, the people behind StartPage, are preparing StartMail
<https://www.startmail.com/> , an email system that will offer user privacy
as well - of a sort. 

The StartMail system, which will soon enter Beta testing, will not engage in
data mining of the sort that has become pervasive in Gmail. The emails will
be encrypted using ("PGP encryption"). and it all sounds great. until one
realizes that the federal spy agencies have the expertise to overcome any
kind of encryption system that is used in commercial systems.

In the abstract, StartMail seems like a timely idea. In practice, I'm
skeptical that NSA cyberspies can be kept out of any email system.

Techies, I'm asking for your help in understanding these issues. Could
StartMail actually be made sustainably secure from the government's online
spies? Is StartPage really only secure for now because it's too small at the
moment to catch the attention of Big Brother?

------------------------------------------

Vision2020 Post: Ted Moffett

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