Snowden: Avoid Google, Facebook and Dropbox

by Dan Vlasic on 17 October 2014 · 5600 views

I sure hope Edward Snowden is earning some cash with all the hype that is going on around him. Laura Poitras has made a movie about him, while his Russian lawyer has written a novel, partly fiction, partly fact, and already got a contract with a Hollywood film maker for the production of a movie. Does Ed benefit from that? We don't know, but he does not look particularly rich. Rumor goes his Hawaiian girlfriend joined him in Russia, and the entire country is now following the US truth fighter in exile reunite with his beloved.

On the serious note, Edward Snowden manages to stay at the top of headlines feeding reporters bits and pieces of information. So, a few days ago he gave an online interview for the New Yorker Festival, via Google Hangouts, which is particularly ironic because Snowden basically advised users to stay away from Google, Facebook and Dropbox if they valued their privacy.

Snowden admitted that even though Google and Facebook have seemingly beefed up some of their practices, they are still 'dangerous services' as far as privacy is concerned. He added Dropbox is another dangerous service since it has no local encryption. Yes, the data on Dropbox servers is encrypted, but users need to resort to third-party applications to encrypt the files on their computers. By the way, Condoleeza Rice is on Dropbox' board, so you bet she knows if you have an unlicensed copy of Minecraft apk in your Dropbox storage.

Here are some apps and tips Edward Snowden recommended as functional means of privacy protection:

Encrypt your mobile devices
Use RedPhone, which provides en-to-end encryption and is an open source project, which means anyone in the user community can review the code and report a bug or a flaw. The app encrypts your calls and places them via data or Wi-Fi, without costing you anything on your plan's paid minutes.
Use Silent Circle instead of the stock SMS apps.

It is interesting to note that whatever this man says directly influences the market, and in this regard, I am surprised he did not mention Apple (or Microsoft and Yahoo) this time, which might boost iPhone 6 sales. However, on a larger scale, it should be crystal clear everyone using these services to whatever extent can be traced, tracked and pinned down at any given time.

You can watch the full interview below, and don't forget to share your impressions in the comments below!