Privacy is trendy: Google making high-end encryption easy
Culture
Google is making it harder for the NSA to read your email.
I'm Bridget Carey, and this is your CNET Update.
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Google is working on a way for you to protect sensitive email messages with the same encryption technology that's used by spies.
The extra security is called end to end encryption and it's a way to stop people from snooping in on your emails while in transit.
According to documents revealed by Edward Snowden, the National Security Agency has the power to intercept emails on the ways to their destination, but end to end encryption makes it much harder for the NSA, or other hackers, to read those emails.
You can think of normal email as sending a post card that anyone can read easily.
Encryption is the envelope that seals your letter shut, and Google is using PGP, which basically puts a lock on that envelope and only you can unlock it with your specific key.
Now if someone tries to pluck your email without the key, it will just be a bunch of gobbly **** code.
PGP is so secure that Edward Snowden used it to communicate to journalists.
Normally, you have to be really tech savvy to set something like that up, but Google wants to make it easy for anyone to use.
When it's released, it'll be an extension that you can download for the Chrome web browser.
At the South by Southwest Tech Conference, Snowden spoke via video to programmers, asking them to make it easier for the general public to have access to encryption tools.
It seems that Google is answering the call and it's no surprise.
Encryption is an important selling feature these days, as consumers are on high alert about their privacy.
Apple is also hot on the trend.
The new operation systems for the iPhone, iPad, and Mac computers, will have the option for DuckDuckGo to be the default search engine.
DuckDuckGo is a silly name, but it's a private search engine that doesn't keep track of your browsing history.
In other Apple news, there's a new video game accessory for the iPhone.
It's a case called the Junglecat, and it has a slide out panel for a d pad, buttons and bumpers.
It's made by Razr, that's a company known for it's PC gaming accessories.
It'll cost $100 and it'll be out in July.
There's this growth in gaming on smartphones cause people are shifting away from buying separate portable consoles.
For Sony's Playstation Portable, it's the end of an era.
Sony announced the 10 year old PSP will no longer be sold.
Of course, Sony is instead focusing on the newer PS Vita.
You'll be hearing tons more gaming news in the next week as we cover the E3 video game conference in Los Angeles.
That's your tech news update, you can always head to cnet.com for more, and follow me on Twitter to stay updated.
From our studios in New York, I'm Bridget Carey.
