VoIP You

Perhaps you remember a time when you were younger and you forced one of your friends to call a boy or girl that you liked while you sat holding your breath on a phone in another room. This is the most basic form of telephone eavesdropping and it has been carried out by new generations of junior high students for decades. It's pretty harmless, and let's be honest, the boy or girl you liked totally knew you were listening.

Listening into calls has evolved over the years, and unfortunately it's generally carried out with malicious intent. Recent reports on the government wiretapping practices have also created a stir among Americans, and many are looking for alternatives to companies that have supplied the government with phone records:

"While the NSA supposedly received records from three largest phone companies, the agency doesn't have the wherewithal to contact smaller VoIP vendors, which has prompted some consumers to switch to other carriers... VoIP companies...offer greater anonymity since PC to PC calls are more difficult to track, and since customers only have to provide an email address to get an account." (From Marketing Shift)

Now, there are two sides to this debate, and some will agree with the companies that provide the government with what they want. Regardless of where you stand on the issue, though, privacy should be a concern, because it's not only the government that can be listening in. Security guru Bruce Schneier has written in depth accounts of VoIP privacy issues and solutions, and he had this to say:

"Encryption is one of the essential security technologies for computer data, and it will go a long way toward securing VOIP...Basically, the government likes the idea of everyone using encryption, as long as it has a copy of the key. This is an amazingly insecure idea for a number of reasons, mostly boiling down to the fact that when you provide a means of access into a security system, you greatly weaken its security...Fortunately, there are many VOIP-encryption products available."

One such product that's been garnering a lot of attention of late is Phillip Zimmerman's Zfone:

"What sets Zfone apart from comparable systems is that it does not require a web of computers to hold the keys, or long numbers, used in most encryption schemes. Instead, it performs the key exchange inside the digital voice channel while the call is being set up, so no third party has the keys." (From The New York Times)

There's no doubt that the government will have something to say about Mr. Zimmerman's latest product. However, it's designed for everyone, and its mere conception demonstrates the concerns that most people have about privacy. VoIP offers you a variety of ways to protect yourself from third party eavesdropping whether the NSA or an individual conducts it. Who knows, it might even cause 'tweens to eliminate the middleman and talk directly to the person they're after.