The chief of online search engine Yahoo, Marissa Mayer on November 18, 2013 said that the Internet company will start encrypting data online. The move will be taken by Yahoo in order to protect users from online snooping.
In a blog post, Mayer said that by April 2014, Yahoo will have encryption in place in an attempt to protect information which are shared by users of online properties, along with information shared between the internet company’s data center. Meanwhile, search engine giant Google has already started scrambling the majority of traffic at its websites, as technology firms have to deal with moves by US intelligence agencies to spy on what people are doing online.
Mayer said, “As you know, there have been a number of reports over the last six months about the U.S. government secretly accessing user data without the knowledge of tech companies, including Yahoo”. She went on to say that they will continue to evaluate how they can protect their users’ privacy and their data.
Mayer also said that a more sophisticated encryption system will be available at the company’s free Web Mail service by January 8, 2014 to protect the privacy of users. Yahoo is also facing a new lawsuit filed against it for violating privacy by scanning Yahoo Mail messages.
Photo Credits: MNG Interactive
