The Blackphone is touted as a carrier and vendor-independent smartphone that allows businesses and individuals make and receive secure phone calls exchange secure texts, transfer and store files and video chat without compromising user privacy on the device.
The people behind Blackphone are Phil Zimmermann, creator of widely used encryption software called PGP, or Pretty Good Privacy; Javier Aguera, co-founder of Geeksphone; Jon Callas, co-founder of PGP Inc. and CTO of Silent Circle; Rodrigo Silva-Ramos, co-founder of Geeksphone; and Mike Janke, CEO of Silent Circle and former U.S. Navy SEAL.
"I have spent my whole career working towards the launch of secure telephony products," Zimmerman said in a press release. "Blackphone provides users with everything they need to ensure privacy and control of their communications, along with all the other high-end smartphone features they have come to expect."
Details about the actual phone and price have not been announced, but more will follow when the Blackphone debuts at Mobile World Congress next month. Preorders will begin at the end of February.
As the world collectively groans with each new report about the US government spying on local and global communications network, it will be interesting to see how Blackphone succeeds in providing much needed privacy to smartphone users worldwide.
