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1985 - Peer-to-Peer Encrypted Phone Calls to Avoid NSA Wiretapping

The NSA admitted last week to collecting phone call information for every American for the last several years. Fund 1985, a mobile app that prevents spying.

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1985 - Peer-to-Peer Encrypted Phone Calls to Avoid NSA Wiretapping

1985 - Peer-to-Peer Encrypted Phone Calls to Avoid NSA Wiretapping

1985 - Peer-to-Peer Encrypted Phone Calls to Avoid NSA Wiretapping

1985 - Peer-to-Peer Encrypted Phone Calls to Avoid NSA Wiretapping

1985 - Peer-to-Peer Encrypted Phone Calls to Avoid NSA Wiretapping

The NSA admitted last week to collecting phone call information for every American for the last several years. Fund 1985, a mobile app that prevents spying.

The NSA admitted last week to collecting phone call information for every American for the last several years. Fund 1985, a mobile app that prevents spying.

The NSA admitted last week to collecting phone call information for every American for the last several years. Fund 1985, a mobile app that prevents spying.

The NSA admitted last week to collecting phone call information for every American for the last several years. Fund 1985, a mobile app that prevents spying.

Jonathan Corbett
Jonathan Corbett
Jonathan Corbett
Jonathan Corbett
1 Campaign |
New York, United States
$505 USD 13 backers
1% of $50,000 Flexible Goal Flexible Goal

Why Do We Need 1985?

June 10th, 2013 - Over the last week, the country (and the world) have been rocked by the government's admission, after a wistleblower leak, that they have been monitoring the phone call data of every American in the country for many years.  President Obama has said that we can't have "100% privacy" anymore.  U.S. Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-CA) said "This is called protecting America!"  U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said we've "got nothing to worry about." U.S. Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) said that "everyone should just calm down."

1985 is a protocol and, with your help, a mobile application that will prevent government spying through the use of relays and encryption.  It will operate peer-to-peer, meaning it can't be shut down, it will be free for calls between 1985 users (and cheap for calls to landlines or mobile non-users), and it will be statistically impossible to know who is on both ends of the call.

Everyone deserves privacy, and one need not have "something to hide" in order to be uncomfortable with Big Brother tracking their conversations.

 

What Does The Money Go To?

We need money for two things:

  • To fund a small development team to write the software
  • To fund the infrastructure to route calls to landlines and mobile non-users

Please continue to fund beyond the funding goal.  Two reasons: #1, if you fund at the $25 level, you'll get the first year of landline/mobile non-user service for cheaper than it will normally cost.  #2, If funds beyond our funding goal are received, we will be able to do things like offer free or cheaper subscriptions for landline/mobile non-user calling, produce the app for other platforms (BlackBerry, Windows Phone, and ordinary desktop/laptop computers), etc., so please continue to donate even as we surpass our goal.  Your donation will not be wasted.

 

The Impact

We hope to put an end to en mass spying on the communications of citizens.  The entire country need not use this software to achieve this goal: even if only a few percent of people do, spying on the rest of the citizens no longer accomplishes anything, because one would have to assume that anyone placing a call "worth spying on" would be among the few percent using 1985.

 

Who Runs 1985?

1985 was invented by Jonathan Corbett, a civil rights activist known for his work fighting the Transportation Security Administration's nude body scanners as well as the "stop-and-frisk" policy of the NYPD.  He is also the owner of a mobile application development firm.  His two passions combine together to put him in a position that is uniquely capable of seeing this project to completion.

 

Where Can I Find More Information?

Watch the YouTube video for a 2-minute overview.  If you're interested in the tech details, we have more of that on our Web page, as well as contact information.

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Choose your Perk

One Year of Unlimited Calls

$25 USD
1985 will be free for calls between its users, but for calls to non-users, we need to pay for a gateway to connect those calls. Contributors at this level will receive this service free for 1 year.
Estimated Shipping
August 2013
12 out of 10000 of claimed

Lifetime Unlimited Calls

$1,000 USD
1985 will be free for calls between its users, but for calls to non-users, we need to pay for a gateway to connect those calls. Contributors at this level will receive lifetime service.
Estimated Shipping
August 2013
0 out of 1000 of claimed

Lifetime Unlimited Calls plus:

$5,000 USD
1985 will be free for calls between its users, but for calls to non-users, we need to pay for a gateway to connect those calls. Contributors at this level will receive lifetime service. Additionally, if you would like, we will list your name in the open-source software we release as one of the people who made this happen. (This is optional -- we will contact you to receive your permission first.)
Estimated Shipping
August 2013
0 out of 100 of claimed

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