Silent Circle brings encypted messaging app, Silent Text, to Android

Global encrypted communication provider Silent Circle has introduced its secure file sharing and text messaging app, Silent Text, to the Android platform. The encrypted service has been available for the iOS platform for almost a year now, and has now appeared on the Play Store as well. The features provided by the app include the ability for users to transfer 100MB files of any type to another Silent Text user as well as being able to have normal message-based conversations.

The USP of this app is that it protects the user’s data with end-to-end encryption, and stores the encryption keys onto the user’s device directly, as opposed to the company’s servers. This ensures that the only people who can decrypt the conversation are the ones who are involved in it. It also comes with a self-destruct-like feature, where messages can be destroyed once viewed. The company has not clarified if it can actually delete files permanently, though.

The introduction of Silent Text to Android is the next step in its battle against covert surveillance, according to the company. In a statement , Silent Circle’s co-founder Jon Callas said that, “Large-scale network monitoring is making many a Cloud, telecommunications and other businesses’ privacy policies almost moot.” The co-founder, while talking about Silent Text, said that the service is “designed to be inherently more secure than other mediums.”

Silent Circle has now introduced Silent Text for Android

Silent Text is only available for Silent Circle subscribers. The entire suite of encryption products can be purchased for $9.95 (Rs 650 approx) each month, a hefty price to say the least. But there will definitely be a privacy-conscious clientele for the service out there. But what about the potential security threat of having end-to-end encryption to text and content being so easily available? The company, in its Terms of Agreement , has clearly specified that it will terminate any contracts where the levels of communication seem unusually high or warrant suspicion. In addition, the company’s website comes with a standard credit card payment scheme which generates a digital footprint to track unusual-looking accounts.

Silent Circle was last seen in the news when it shut down its encrypted email service , Silent Mail, in light of covert surveillance programmes like PRISM. The company, at the time, said that it is no longer sure if it can guarantee a secure conversation between two people online.