27 Years Ago Stasi Surveillance Ended. Now Mass Surveillance Online Must Stop.

2017-10-03

On October 3rd 1990 German re-unification enabled millions of people in the former German Democratic Republic to make use of freedom of speech and their right to privacy. 27 years later, in celebration of this great victory against state surveillance, we at Tutanota are releasing a completely rebuild encrypted mail client that enables millions of people around the world to exchange their thoughts and ideas freely and privately online.

Stasi would have loved online surveillance

We as Germans have been taught the importance of privacy and freedom of speech the hard way: Constantly monitored by the Stasi – which at that time largely depended on neighbors spying on each other – people in East Germany were constantly self-censoring what they were saying, oftentimes even what they were thinking. This has stopped 27 years ago on German Unity Day. Today state surveillance on the Internet is much worse: Secret Services – but also malicious attackers – can easily copy our entire Internet traffic seeing what websites we visit, what emails we write.

Fighting for freedom & right to privacy

The Stasi would have loved that all-round surveillance, which happens secretly and unnoticed by many. We at Tutanota see ourselves as Freedom Fighters. We want encryption to be dead-easy to use so that everybody is able to whisper online. This way we can put an end to illegal mass surveillance, which could lead to identity theft or political suppression.

Screenshot Secure Mail Client: Write Mail

Automatically end-to-end encrypted tools like the new Tutanota mail client enable people to communicate privately, without third parties reading along. It is time that each one of us starts valuing their online data for what it is: The most private information that we would not like to share with all our neigbors, let alone anonymous online spies. Secure tools like Tutanota enable all of us to protect ourselves from illegal mass surveillance.

Fresh design & improved performance to stop mass surveillance

Screenshot Secure Mail Client: dark theme

This release is our biggest release since the original release of Tutanota in March 2014. The Tutanota mail client has been rebuilt from scratch to give it a fresh design, to improve performance and to make it fit for the future. The modern look is essential to convince everybody to use the secure mail service even when they do not care for privacy at all.

Our dream of the future Internet is that secure tools like Tutanota will replace mainstream mail providers like Gmail and Yahoo - known for scanning all emails.

Once this is being achieved, mass surveillance online will simply become impossible.

Author

Black and white picture of Arne in a fighting for privacy pose.

Arne is co-founder and developer of Tuta email, calendar, and contacts services. He is an expert on email protocols, including spam handling, encryption technologies, and software development. He fights for privacy because it's the cornerstone of freedom and democracy.