Free Republic

Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt recently publicly protested alleged U.S. government spying on Google data centers. “The NSA allegedly collected the phone records of 320 million people in order to identify roughly 300 people who might be a risk," he said. The massive Government Matrix invasion of privacy only emphasizes the dramatic actions of 32-year-old Lavabit founder Ladar Levison. In August, rather than give the government the key to unlock the content of his 400,000 paying subscribers, Levison pulled the plug on the encrypted email service he spent ten years to build. “All this information is being compiled, archived, indexed...

The owner of the encrypted email service used by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden says he could face criminal charges for refusing to comply with a secret federal court order issued last week. Ladar Levison abruptly shut down his company, Lavabit LLC, last week to avoid being forced to hand over customers’ personal information and communications. James Trump, a senior litigation counsel at the US attorney’s office in Alexandria, Virginia, contacted Levinson’s lawyer on August 8 - the day Levinson ended Lavabit’s services, NBC News reported. The attorney was told that Levison had “violated the court order,” leading to speculation...