14 DAY TRIAL // It’s been a month since details about the NSA surveillance programs were revealed and everyone has since feared that their online conversations, including emails, are being tracked by unauthorized people.
Along with these details, a list of companies that have been reportedly collaborating with the NSA and providing the intelligence agency with direct access to their servers has also been revealed.
Among these, you could find Google, Microsoft and Yahoo, which makes the services offered by these companies less trustworthy, despite their vehement denials of having anything to do with the surveillance programs.
While the NSA has several surveillance programs set in place, including one that allows it to tap into data flows without needing to get information from Internet companies, it’s thought that at least PRISM can be bypassed by changing the used services.
If email services such as Gmail, Outlook and Yahoo Mail have been compromised, then some alternatives must be at least given a chance.
Prism Break makes a list of several web services that can be used instead.
For instance, MyKolab seems to be one of the best bets. First of all, the company’s servers are hosted in Switzerland and benefit from local privacy laws. The secure Kolab accounts allow users to communicate securely and free of any charge.
Riseup is another possible alternative. While the company’s servers are located in the United States, they claim to be offering secure and private email accounts, with the bonus that access is provided only by invitation.
Bitmessage is another email service that offers encrypted and decentralized messaging. However, the service is still in beta and not yet optimized for daily use, so it comes with a warning label.
There are many other email services out there that can be used, but bypassing the NSA and other intelligence agencies completely is probably next to impossible. However, it’s worth at least giving it a shot.