Spy-Proof Web Browsing

Zero-Knowledge's privacy system lets Web users protect their identities. The servers at the core of the system are ISP-hosted and provide a potential revenue stream.

by Wayne Kawamoto

Montreal-based Zero-Knowledge Systems recently released version 1.0 of its Freedom client software. A free trial version is available for download at the company's Web site. The software, which is compatible with most popular browsers, encrypts data as users send and receive it, erases where information comes from, and hides any references to Internet pathways. According to the company, users of the software can effectively obtain new Web identities that can never be traced back to them.

Freedom 1.0 offers layers of encryption and sends data through a series of servers that route data from server to server. This way, no one can link an IP address to see where a user is surfing, identify a user's physical location, find out how a user originally connected to the Internet, or read the contents of the encrypted communications. According to Zero-Knowledge, users can also conduct private chats, control Web cookies, block unwanted e-mail, and scan for words that should never leave their computers.

The basis of Zero-Knowledge's system is a series of "Freedom Servers," which are hosted by participating ISPs, and through which all Internet traffic is routed. ISPs that choose to host Freedom Servers receive sales commissions (10 percent) for each user that purchases the Freedom software ($49.95), or upgrades from the free trial version.

Zero-Knowledge also pays ISPs that host its servers for the bandwidth that is used. The company bases ISP revenue on throughput, at the rate of $1,300 (US dollars) per T1, per month.

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