Encrypted e-mail service thought used by Snowden shuts down
Secure communications providers, including one used by Snowden, halt operations rather than let US government access customer data
Two major secure e-mail service providers, one of them believed to have been used by Edward Snowden, have taken the extraordinary step of shutting down service rather than run the risk of the US government accessing customers' data.
Lavabit, based in Texas and which was reportedly used by the fugitive former US surveillance contractor, announced its suspension on Thursday afternoon, citing concerns about secret government court orders.
I have been forced to make a difficult decision - to become complicit in crimes against the American people, or walk away from 10 years of hard work by shutting down Lavabit
That evening, Silent Circle, a firm based in the state of Maryland that counts heads of state among its customers, said it was following Lavabit's lead and shutting its e-mail service as a protective measure.
Taken together, the closures signal that e-mails, even if encrypted, can be accessed by US government authorities and that the only way to prevent turning over the data is to obliterate the servers the data is kept on.
Mike Janke, Silent Circle's chief executive, said his company had destroyed its server. "Gone. Can't get it back. Nobody can," he said. "We thought it was better to take flak from customers than be forced to turn it over."
Lavabit owner Ladar Levison explained the closure on the company's website.