With the recent revelations about the extent of additional data gathering by the German Foreign Intelligence Agency (BND) from a leaked classified report written by the Federal Data Protection Commission. Jonathan Parker-Bray, Founder and CEO of encrypted communications solution at Pryvate commented below.
Jonathan Parker-Bray, Founder and CEO at Pryvate:
Given the regular revelations about the surveillance activity of nation states and global powers the recent revelations that the German Foreign Intelligence Agency (BND) has been scooping up more data than it needs on every investigation it does is not surprising. The saddening reality is that this sort of behaviour has become normal and what citizens can expect of many governments both foreign and domestic. One thing is also certain, if your government, who you should be able to trust to protect you is gathering data on you illegally, many cyber criminals and malicious actors may be trying to do the same. We at Pryvate firmly believe that every individual has the right to secure global communications regardless of their location, and does not forfeit this right at any point, regardless of borders. This is why there is a global need for more citizens to educate themselves about the threats to their privacy, and take steps to protect it, such as using secure messaging solutions to protect their online communications, deploying appropriate anti-virus protections, and controlling their online life to avoid sharing unnecessary personal information. In our age where so much of our lives have transitioned online, it is imperative that we move to protect it, as surely as we would put a lock on the front door, and complain if someone tried to stick their head in the window.
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