Lavabit, the email service reportedly used by fugitive intelligence contractor Edward Snowden, has shut down, apparently due to U.S. government pressure.
- Reuters
- Snowden with legal representatives in Russia.
Snowden, who exposed a controversial data-gathering program sponsored by the National Security Agency, had reportedly used a Lavabit address to send sensitive emails. Snowden’s Lavabit address became public in July, when he asked to meet with representatives of human-rights organizations in Russia.
A message to Lavabit users recently posted on the site said the free service had ceased operations. “I have been forced to make a difficult decision: to become complicit in crimes against the American people or walk away from nearly ten years of hard work by shutting down Lavabit,” Ladar Levison, Lavabit’s owner and operator, wrote.
“After significant soul searching, I have decided to suspend operations. I wish that I could legally share with you the events that led to my decision. I cannot. I feel you deserve to know what’s going on — the first amendment is supposed to guarantee me the freedom to speak out in situations like this. Unfortunately, Congress has passed laws that say otherwise. As things currently stand, I cannot share my experiences over the last six weeks, even though I have twice made the appropriate requests.”
Levison said his team is working to “continue to fight for the Constitution in the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.”
“This experience has taught me one very important lesson: without congressional action or a strong judicial precedent, I would _strongly_ recommend against anyone trusting their private data to a company with physical ties to the United States,” he wrote.
Lavabit was created in 2004 when a group of Texas programmers decided to create an alternative service to Gmail, which they felt did not offer enough privacy and security, according to a report by the website Business Insider. LINK
– Benjamin Pimentel
Follow Benjamin Pimentel on Twitter @benpimentel
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