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Lavabit

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Intgr (talk | contribs) at 17:06, 29 August 2013 (→‎History: The person was a suspect, "suspected" instead of "alleged"). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Lavabit
Type of site
Webmail
OwnerLadar Levison[1]
URLlavabit.com
Launched2004
Current statusSuspended

Lavabit is an email service founded in 2004 that suspended operations in August 2013. It is owned and operated by Ladar Levison.[1][3]

History

Lavabit was founded by Texas-based programmers who formed Nerdshack LLC, renamed Lavabit LLC the next year, allegedly prompted by privacy concerns about Gmail, Google's free, widely-used email service, and their use of the content of users' email to generate advertisements and marketing data.[4] Lavabit offered significant privacy protection for their users' email, including asymmetric encryption. The strength of the cryptographic methods used was of a level that is presumed impossible for even intelligence agencies to crack. In August 2013, Lavabit had about 410,000 users and offered free and paid accounts with levels of storage ranging from 128 megabytes to 8 gigabytes.[5][6]

Before the Snowden incident, Lavabit had complied with previous search warrants. For example, in June of 2013 a search warrant was executed against a Lavabit account for suspected possession of child pornography.[7]

Connection to Edward Snowden

Lavabit received media attention in July 2013 when it was revealed that National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden was using the Lavabit email address edsnowden@lavabit.com to invite human rights lawyers and activists to a press conference during his confinement at Sheremetyevo International Airport in Moscow.[8]

Suspension and gag order

On August 8, 2013, Lavabit suspended its operations, and the email service log-in page was replaced by a message from the owner and operator Ladar Levison.[1] The New Yorker suggested that the suspension might be related to the National Security Agency’s "domestic-surveillance practices".[9] Wired speculated that Levison was fighting a warrant or national security letter seeking customer information under extraordinary circumstances, as Lavabit had complied with at least one routine search warrant in the past.[8][10] Levison stated in an interview that he has responded to "at least two dozen supboenas" over the lifetime of the service.[11]

Levison explained he was under gag order and that he was legally unable to explain to the public why he ended the service.[11] Instead, he asked for donations to "fight for the Constitution" in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Levison also stated he has even been banned from sharing some information with his lawyer.[11] Meanwhile, the Electronic Frontier Foundation called on the FBI to provide greater transparency to the public, in part to help observers "understand what led to a ten-year-old business closing its doors and a new start-up abandoning a business opportunity".[12]

Lavabit is believed to be the first technology firm that has chosen to suspend/shut down its operation rather than comply with an order from the United States government to reveal information or grant access to information.[3] Silent Circle, an encrypted email, mobile video and voice service provider, followed the example of Lavabit by discontinuing its encrypted email services.[13] Citing the impossibility of being able to maintain the confidentiality of its customers' emails should it be served with government orders, Silent Circle permanently erased the encryption keys that allowed access to emails stored or transmitted by its service.[14]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c "Lavabit". Lavabit. Archived from the original on August 8, 2013. Retrieved August 8, 2013.
  2. ^ "Lavabit.com Site Info". Alexa Internet. Retrieved August 8, 2013.
  3. ^ a b Ackerman, Spencer (August 9, 2013). "Lavabit email service abruptly shut down citing government interference: Founder of service reportedly used by Edward Snowden said he would not be complicit in 'crimes against the American people'". The Guardian. Retrieved August 9, 2013.
  4. ^ Lavabit High Scalability Writeup
  5. ^ Lavabit chief predicts 'long fight' with feds CNET, August 9, 2013. Retrieved August 13, 2013.
  6. ^ Ingersoll, Geoffrey (July 12, 2013). "How Edward Snowden Sends His Ultra-Sensitive Emails". Business Insider. Archived from the original on August 8, 2013. Retrieved 8 August 2013.
  7. ^ "In the Matter of the Search of: Lavabit LLC Email Account for Joey006@lavabit.com". Docket Alarm, Inc. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
  8. ^ a b Poulsen, Kevin (August 8, 2013). "Edward Snowden's Email Provider Shuts Down After Secret Court Battle". Wired. Archived from the original on August 8, 2013. Retrieved August 8, 2013.
  9. ^ Davidson, Amy. "The N.S.A. and Its Targets: Lavabit Shuts Down". The New Yorker. Retrieved August 8, 2013.
  10. ^ Jardin, Xeni (August 8, 2013). "Lavabit, email service Snowden reportedly used, abruptly shuts down". Boing Boing. Archived from the original on August 8, 2013. Retrieved August 8, 2013.
  11. ^ a b c Mullin, Joe (August 14, 2013). "Lavabit founder, under gag order, speaks out about shutdown decision". Ars Technica. Retrieved August 16, 2013.
  12. ^ Samson, Ted (August 9, 2013). "Lavabit shutdown marks another costly blemish for U.S. tech companies". InfoWorld. Retrieved August 16, 2013.
  13. ^ Ribeiro, John. "After Lavabit, Silent Circle also shuts down its encrypted email service". PC World. Retrieved 9 August 2013.
  14. ^ Sengupta, Somini (August 8, 2013). "2 E-Mail Services Close and Destroy Data Rather Than Reveal Files" (Bits blog). The New York Times. Retrieved August 10, 2013.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lavabit&oldid=570697546"