Web Site Security, Encryption, And Privacy

Greetings.

Recent events have revealed, in simplistic and generalized terms, that governments, corporations, and internet providers throughout the world want to spy on every single thing you do. This ranges from phone calls to emails to internet searches and activity. Most major software, communications, and social networking sites have been implicated as giving special warrantless access to nearly everything in their systems. See here for example:
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jun/06/us-tech-giants-nsa-data

If you are not familiar with other aspects of this subject, please see the other various articles published by The Guardian in the UK:
http://www.theguardian.com/world/nsa

As a result, in the last month, this site has switched to full encryption using https to have a better chance at guarding the communication channel to this web site. There is no specific threat to us at this time. It is merely proactive given recent events. Hopefully we will be able to maintain the servers in the United States, however that might change in the future if needed. Many privacy advocates are expressing concern that United States based hosting can not be trusted any more.

Our privacy policy has also been updated with the details about our data collection, storage, and transmission which are available at the following link:
https://www.prayerrequest.com/privacypolicy/

I hope this helps address any questions you might have about this. Inevitably, this type of broad surveillance will lead to persecution far beyond the reasons given for it to exist. Christians and others eventually become the targets. This has been proven time and again in history. So we take it's threat very seriously and believe it to be magnitudes worse than the danger it purports to protect us from. These things are often done in small increments so as not to arouse the masses too quickly as to what is happening. That is why it is important to treat even cracking the door open as a very serious matter.

What can you do? It is very difficult to change the government views or actions on something like this. One can certainly try. We can vote, but our choices appear to be preselected. In addition, I'd recommend examining what companies and clouds you share your information with. Recently for example, I have shut down part or entire accounts that I can live without at Apple, Dropbox, and Google/YouTube. I have also reverted back to a more home based, local computer, and USB stick type of personal storage. I have already been avoiding social networking except for a time the site was using Twitter. Where practical I have also sought to protect communication and internet channels with encryption as well. Not that I'm doing anything illegal, but I really don't like the feeling that every thing I do is being piped into a surveillance system without a specific constitutional warrant being issued (http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/fourth_amendment). You can also try to stay logged out of places like Google when you search. Or, you can try places like https://www.ixquick.com who take search privacy very seriously.

To go the extra mile, you could look into encrypted VPN services to at least partially protect your internet activity (for example, http://www.earthvpn.com/ or http://www.ibvpn.com/ or many others). Avoid US based VPN companies, they may be or become compromised. Make sure to use the 256 bit higher encryption option if you use a VPN. Ask their support to make sure. Watch out also for DNS leakage (https://www.dnsleaktest.com/what-is-a-dns-leak.php). There are also some encrypted communication programs available from Silent Circle for iOS devices (https://silentcircle.com/) that use end to end encryption. For true security, your encryption codes should not be stored on any server but only at the actual points of end contact (you and the person you are communicating with). It is pretty much a given that large email providers give access to your emails before they become encrypted (http://blogs.seattletimes.com/opini...a-a-backdoor-to-hotmail-outlook-com-skydrive/). A more difficult, but possible email solution, is to use an email program like Thunderbird with PGP encryption (http://www.enigmail.net/home/index.php). But that can be difficult and you need the people you contact to do the same thing. Another encrypted email service also appears to still be available that is based in Sweden (https://countermail.com/).

I have also increased the storage capacity for private messages on this web site about 10x with the capacity for more. That way when you send a message to someone else on this site, the body of private messages stays on this server without sloshing around the world for everyone to eavesdrop as is the case with email. Only a notification email with the from, to, and subject would be visible to whoever or whatever is scanning through your internet traffic and emails. There is also an option to turn off even such notifications in the Settings Menu - Notifications Options in the menu at the top of this site.

For further reading:

Memories of Stasi color Germans’ view of U.S. surveillance programs
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/06/26/195045/memories-of-stasi-color-germans.html

Like a thief in the night, tyranny always descends upon sleeping societies in a cloak of super patriotic conformity. It attacks when one is unguarded psychologically and least wary of an assault. By the time the citizen is prepared to raise a dissenting voice, in the name of state security, his throat (and presumably his vocal cords) have already been cut and he has been rendered mute. Once the national conscience has been drugged, sedated, or put to sleep through racist demagoguery, it is difficult to reawaken it. (Amazon.com review of They Thought They Were Free).

They Thought They Were Free: The Germans, 1933-45 (Free Download)
http://archive.org/details/theythoughttheyw027497mbp

Lavabit email service abruptly shut down citing government interference:
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/aug/08/lavabit-email-shut-down-edward-snowden

Silent Circle Shuts Down Silent Mail, Marking Yet Another Encrypted Email Service To Bite The Dust
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/09/silent-circle-shutting-down-encripted-email_n_3732779.html

They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.
Benjamin Franklin.
 

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