Ladar Levison

Ladar Levison

American programmer from Texas
Country: USA

Biography of Ladar Levison

Ladar Levison is an American programmer from Texas who founded the popular email service 'Lavabit' in 2004. He distinguished 'Lavabit' from its competitors by implementing a strict privacy policy and a unique cryptographic method, which not only protected the service from hacker attacks but also from government surveillance.

Ladar Levison

In 2013, it was revealed that Edward Snowden, the whistleblower, was one of the users of 'Lavabit'. This led to aggressive actions by the US authorities, who demanded access to the complete database of emails and users. Despite multiple hearings, during which Levison was denied legal representation, the court ordered the transfer of all information from the service to the relevant authorities. However, instead of complying, Levison shut down the service within three days and deleted all the encryption keys.

Ladar Levison

The internet has transitioned from being a free space to a controlled environment under the influence of governmental pressures. However, 'Lavabit' remained one of the few islands of freedom online, offering email services with a guarantee of user confidentiality. Levison, working with a small team in Texas, continuously developed new methods and techniques to protect user interests. Unfortunately, this policy became too dangerous for the US government, and authorities increasingly requested information about users, albeit on the grounds of cooperation.

In 2013, when Edward Snowden's name dominated the international media, the US intelligence agencies immediately sought to track his actions. It was discovered that Snowden had called a human rights lawyer to the Moscow airport using his personal email address on 'Lavabit'. This revelation marked the beginning of the end for the email service.

Levison received an official letter just a day later, requesting the transfer of information regarding one of the users, presumably Snowden himself. However, a month later, he received another letter, this time asking him to hand over the encryption keys, which would result in complete control over the once-protected database. Levison proposed rewriting the system's code to allow access to the information of interest to the authorities, but his offer was rejected.

In the summer of 2013, Levison was contacted by the FBI and summoned for a hearing. Given very little time, he was unable to find legal representation and appeared alone, without the right to speak in his defense. Unfortunately, in the fall, the court ruled in favor of handing over all the information to the authorities. In response, Levison deleted the service and, as history remembers, all the information along with it.

Today, the homepage of 'Lavabit' urges users to protect their rights and freedom from the government. The deletion of 'Lavabit' became the most famous "electronic suicide" on the internet. Almost simultaneously, another email service, 'Silent Circle,' also deleted all access keys, citing the impossibility of maintaining user confidentiality under government pressure.

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