Edward Snowden gave a remote interview to the New Yorker’s Jane Mayer, during which he offered his tips for securing information on your phone and on the internet. He particularly cautioned against Dropbox, Facebook, and Google, calling them “dangerous services.”
Snowden advised “Dropping programs that are hostile to privacy, for example Dropbox—get rid of Dropbox. It doesn’t support encryption, it doesn’t protect your private files. And use competitors like SpiderOak.”
“Same thing with companies like Facebook, with companies like Google,” Snowden continued. “They’ve made strides to increase the security of their programs, and they’re getting better than they have been, but they’re still not safe. These are dangerous services, and you need to use alternatives that are better encrypted.”
Although encrypted communication programs are by no means impenetrable by the government, they can still “enforce your rights on the technical level,” according to Snowden.
Snowden wrapped up his advice with a shout-out to several phone encryption services: “Don’t send your texts unencrypted on your iPhone, use programs like RedPhone, like Silent Circle, anything by Moxie Marlinspike and Open Whisper Systems. These are typically free programs that are better than what comes standard on your phone, and they’re safer.”
Above all, he stressed that any companies known to have cooperated with the government “do not deserve to be trusted with your data, because if they’ll do it for one government they’ll do it for another.”
“Citizenfour,” a documentary about Snowden, premiered at the New York Film Festival last weekend and will be in theaters October 24.
Watch the full interview below. Snowden’s advice begins around the 58 minute mark:
