In times of decreasing privacy and increasing paranoia, there is a large section of smartphone and tablet users who believe that losing privacy does not have to be the price technology users necessarily have to pay. Apart from the discomfort brought on by the Big Brother attitude of their government, users also have to be wary of cyber criminals who can target and hack any security-vulnerable devices to steal your confidential information and potentially commit identity theft, credit card fraud, unauthorized cash withdrawals, etc. Silent Circle is an ingenious upcoming Android application which aims to redefine privacy and completely safeguard your device any kind of unauthorized surveillance.
Silent Circle is the brainchild of a supergroup containing a Navy SEAL commando, the creator of Apple’s disk-encryption system, the creator of PGP, and backed by a team of other security experts. It uses military-grade encryption system to protect your information. This soon-to-be-launched Android app works by generating custom encryption keys which are then exterminated immediately after each transmission is completed. To explain it more simply, Silent Circle helps not just destroy records of your communicated information, but also eliminates the encryption code used to transmit it; thereby making your transmitted information impossible to decrypt. This helps in eradicating both your transmission record and any imprint of it so you don’t have to worry about the traceability of your transmission from your Android device.
In an era where surveillance over nearly every action of yours is justified by the government as a measure of security, Silent Circle offers you a solid encryption program to help you opt out of these excessively intrusive policies. The application is remarkably simple to navigate via its intuitive interface and you don’t need to be an advanced hacker or James Bond to use its features. Operating it is as simple as installing and enabling it before making your next phone call or sending a text message.
Silent Circle employs a P2P encryption service, which means a unique encryption key, is generated for each transmission – call or text message – that is deleted instantly when the transmission is completed. No central servers are involved in this process which store encryption keys for your transmissions. The “burn” function of this app can be utilized by Android users to set a time limit on any messages you send to another user.
The service costs $20 monthly per user, and Silent Circle says their clients are mainly government organizations, media outfits (for protecting sources), multinational companies, and some celebrities. Silent Circle will offer the service free for non-profit organizations, though, noting that some of these — such as human rights groups — are worried about the security and privacy of their communications. It is the ideal app for journalists, activists, companies, etc. who are worried about their confidential communications being tracked and misused.
Priced at $20, the Silent Circle product is currently available as a suite of 3 apps along with a fourth one currently being developed (Silent Email – for an encrypted mail program).
Silent Phone: Offers secure peer-to-peer calling to users both inside and outside your Silent Circle group. It offers complete Wi-Fi, 3G/4G and Edge compatibility worldwide.
Silent Text: Offers secure peer-to-peer texting with encryption keys solely available to the Android users sharing the transmission. The “Burn Notice” feature allows you to enable the self-destruct mode for a sent message with a customizable time delay.
Silent Eyes: It offers clear and crisp encrypted audio and video teleconferencing abilities with very low latency via the custom HD network of Silent Circle.
