“The Internet has become a gathering ground for surveillance agencies. They’re taking all our data and communications”
The revelations of Edward Snowden put to light what is going on with privacy and the government intrusions that are taking place, he said. With all the revelations and media hype, one would think that the government would stop, but they haven’t.
Instead of changing ways, the revelation only encouraged other countries to be in an arms race with the United States. They want a similar surveillance system, said Kim, who explained that all data on the Internet goes to the National Security Agency (NSA) spy cloud. “Every email you send, every chat call, text messages, everything, are automatically transcribed and put into the spy cloud. If you become a person of interest, they type your name and phone number, and the database spits out everything,” he said.
“The Internet as we know it is basically a giant public forum for numerous governments to know everything that we are doing. They are profiling you, they are generating more and more data about you, and they store all those,” he said.
With a background in computer hacking and seven years’ experience in the data security industry, Kim thought of a solution. “I thought to myself, the government and people in power won’t fix this for us. The only way to fight this is through technology that makes it impossible them to breach our privacy rights.”
Kim began by launching Mega, a New Zealand-based cloud storage company where every file uploaded is encrypted on the fly. However, this is just a small step. He has come up with a bigger solution by replacing the Internet’s current infrastructure.
“I started work two years ago on an alternative Internet called MegaNet, a non-IP address Internet that uses the blockchain and new protocols to communicate and exchange data. If you don’t have an IP address, you can’t hack or take down sites and servers anymore. Most importantly, it also makes it difficult for anyone to invade our privacy because the network is fully encrypted,” he said.
The more people use the app and software, the more powerful the network will become. “It’s a network from the people, for the people. When we launch into beta about a year from now, we’ll probably have a million users in a year,” Kim predicted.
In January 2016, Kim plans to raise a five million dollar seed fund, and then open up the company to developers, designers, etc. When they have successfully built the prototype, they will launch it to the public, and then start a massive crowdfunding campaign where they will offer equity.
“My goal is not a commercial goal. I’ve been through a lot. I’ve learned a lot with how the world works, and what forces are at play. This is my legacy. I want to create something that people can use that will keep our privacy safe. It will take time — it may even take a decade. But when we achieve that, the Internet will truly be for the people. It will be truly free.”
