Lavabit Owner: FBI Wanted Access to All Customers in Snowden Probe A technology entrepreneur has revealed the full story of why he shut down his encrypted email service earlier this year. Ladar Levison closed Lavabit in August after refusing to comply with a government effort to tap his customers’ information. Levison has now confirmed the FBI was targeting Edward Snowden, who used Lavabit’s services. But he says instead of just targeting Snowden, the government effectively wanted access to the accounts of 400,000 other Lavabit customers, forcing his decision to close. Levison spoke out after a federal judge unsealed documents in the case on Wednesday. Back in August, when he was under a gag order, Levison appeared on Democracy Now! for his first broadcast interview. Ladar Levison: "I think if the American public knew what our government was doing, they wouldn’t be allowed to do it anymore, which is why I’m here in D.C. today speaking to you. My hope is that, you know, the media can uncover what’s going on, without my assistance, and, you know, sort of pressure both Congress and our efforts through the court system to, in effect, put a cap on what it is the government is entitled to in terms of our private communications." Levison now says that since first going public, he has been summoned before a grand jury, fined $10,000 for handing over encryption keys on paper instead of digitally, and threatened with arrest for speaking out.
Posted on: Thu, 03 Oct 2013 19:12:07 +0000
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