The Good Tech Companies - Jon Callas, the Cypherpunk That Built Tools Big Tech Fears

Episode Date: March 26, 2025

This story was originally published on HackerNoon at: https://hackernoon.com/jon-callas-the-cypherpunk-that-built-tools-big-tech-fears. Jon Callas, a participant in the original cypherpunk mailing list, is another well-known figure now, especially in the computer science field. Check more stories related to web3 at: https://hackernoon.com/c/web3. You can also check exclusive content about #cypherpunks-write-code, #jon-callas, #cypherpunk-rebellion, #online-privacy, #phone-privacy, #pgp, #obyte, #good-company, and more. This story was written by: @obyte. Learn more about this writer by checking @obyte's about page, and for more stories, please visit hackernoon.com. Jon Callas was a participant in the original cypherpunk mailing list. He is now a well-known figure in the computer science field. He helped develop PowerTalk, one of the first operating system-integrated encryption tools.

This audio is presented by Hacker Noon, where anyone can learn anything about any technology. John Callis, the cypherpunk that built tools big tech fears, by Obite. A curious thing about cypher punks is that, despite the cryptography for privacy niche being small in the 90s, many of them stepped into the world and build amazing products, platforms, and careers. Not everyone can achieve global recognition, but many cipher punks have. John Callis, a participant in the original cipher punk mailing list, is another well-known figure now, especially in the computer science field. John Callis began his professional journey around 1980 at the University of Maryland, where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics, complimented

by minors in philosophy and English literature. His career took off when he joined Century Computing as a member of the technical staff, followed by a significant tenure at Digital Equipment Corporation, DEC, a major American player in the computer field at the time. At DEC, he contributed to a wide range of projects, from operating system security to cross-platform communications. In the 1990s, Callis co-founded Worldbenders, Inc., where he led the development of Meetingspace, a pioneering cross-platform collaboration tool. Later, he became deeply involved in the cypherpunk movement. His work during this period reflected his commitment to secure communications and digital

rights, principles that would define his career. Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, Callas held key roles at various organizations, including CounterPain Internet Security and Wave Systems Corporation, where he focused on network security and cryptographic systems. But other brands ultimately brought him greater recognition. Apple and PGP, Callas first joined Apple in 1995 as a senior scientist, focusing on security and cryptographic products. During this period, he worked on networking and privacy solutions, including early encryption for Mac OS.

He also helped develop PowerTalk, one of the first operating system-integrated encryption tools. That wasn't popular at the time, however, he salvaged a key component, Keychain, Apple's password manager, which later evolved into a core security feature. In 1997, Callus moved to PGP, Inc., a company founded by another known cypherpunk, Phil Zimmerman, the creator of pre-good privacy, PGP. This was the first widely available public key encryption software for email and file security.

Calis became chief scientist, playing a crucial role in shaping PGP security architecture. When Network Associates acquired PGP later that year, he took on the role of CTOFOR their total network security division, where he helped standardize OpenPGP. After leaving in 1999, he co-founded PGP Corporation in 2002, serving as CTO and CSO, refining encryption tools and overseeing security for PGP products until 2009. Calus returned to Apple in 2009 as a, security privateer, developing FileVault 2, Apple's full disk encryption system, and working on security approvals for iOS. He briefly left for roles in other security firms but rejoined Apple in 2016 as a security

design and architecture manager, continuing his contributions to cryptographic security there until 2018. His agenda for privacy and security didn't change, though. Silent Circle and Blackphone, Calis co-founded the company Silent Circle in 2012 and its Blackphone in 2013, serving as Silent Circle's CTO until April 2016. Alongside Phil Zimmerman and other security experts, he helped build Silent Circle into a provider of encrypted communication tools, including secure voice, video, and text messaging services. The Blackphone, introduced in 2014,

and described as, the first cypherpunk smartphone, was a device designed specifically for privacy, created through a collaboration between Silent Circle and Geeksphone. It ran on PrivetOS, a customized version of Android that removed unnecessary tracking features and provided built-in encryption, VPN services, and smart app permission controls. https://www.youtube.com, watch? v="fnojiohfpw and embeddable="true marketed to businesses and privacy-conscious users." The Blackphone was intended to be a secure alternative to mainstream smartphones, prioritizing user control over data. Despite its innovative approach, sales fell short of expectations, contributing to Silent Circle's

financial struggles in 2016. While the Blackphone project was short-lived, it marked a significant step in privacy-focused technology. Silent Phone, originally an app bundled with the Black Phone, became its spiritual successor and the company's primary product, offering encrypted voice, video, and messaging services across various platforms, including iOS and Android. Ads and Privacy After these initiatives and roles, Callus never stopped working for security and privacy. In 2018, he joined the American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU, as a senior technology fellow, where he worked until August 2020. He then transitioned to the Cypherpunk-founded

Electronic Frontier Foundation, EFF, serving as director of public interest technology until June 2023. That same year, he founded Zaddik Security, a cyber security firm aimed at helping small and medium-sized businesses establish strong security measures. Additionally, since November 2023, he has been a senior computer scientist at the non-profit SRI International. Kalas has been vocal about the growing threats to privacy, emphasizing that large technology corporations pose a greater risk than governments. His concerns center around the widespread practice of collecting and monetizing personal

data for advertising, which creates an economy dependent on user surveillance. He believes that companies prioritizing privacy are more resilient, particularly if the digital advertising industry faces economic instability. The ongoing conflict over ad blocking, which pits privacy-focused users against ad-driven business models, exemplifies this divide. His stance highlights a fundamental split in Silicon Valley, while companies like Apple and Microsoft monetize products and services without relying on user data sales, others, such as Google and Facebook, generate the majority of thier revenue through advertising. Calis argues that ad-driven companies are at risk if the industry declines, forcing them to rethink their business models.

He sees the ad blocker dispute as a key battle for digital privacy, one that caldre shaped the tech industry's relationship with user data, at least in the long term. Crypto is a tool. Even before that warning about big companies, Callus has been clearly against surveillance or even banning of privacy tools, alleging that they're just that, tools. And tools can be used by anyone, everywhere, for any purpose. An old message, by him, from the cypherpunk mailing list reads greater than, politically,

I'm a Lockean, and put privacy up up there with lock's basic trio greater than of life, liberty, and property. As part of this, I fight the stupid notion greater than that because there are bad people out there, rights should be abridged. Greater than crypto, graphy, is a tool, and nigh any useful tool can be misused. If we let greater than that fact stop us from making tools, we'd be using nerf axes and dressing in greater than bubble wrap. If we let the fact that bad guys are using our stuff bother us greater than too much, we'd be against privacy. Obite embodies these privacy and freedom principles by eliminating central intermediaries and giving users full control over their data and transactions. As a directed acyclic graph, DAG, crypto network without middlemen, it ensures censorship resistance

and decentralization, key tenets in Callus's vision of privacy-first technology. Its privacy-focused features, such as black bytes, anantraceable currency, and encrypted chat and chatbots, allow anyone to preserve these fundamental rights. Obite Smart Contracts, Decentralized Assets, and Self-Sovereign Identity, SSI, further enhance user autonomy, allowing trustless interactions without reliance on centralized entities. By prioritizing security and user control, Obite represents an alternative to centralized ecosystems, reinforcing the idea that privacy-focused models can be both sustainable and resilient against economic shifts in the digital landscape. Read more from Cypher Punk's Write Code series Tim May and Crypto Anarchism

Weidai and Bee Money Nick Sabo and Smart Contracts Adam Back and Hashcash Eric Hughes and Remailer St. Jude and Community Memory Julian Assange in Wikileaks, Hal Finney in RPOW, John Gilmore in F, Satoshi Nakamoto in Bitcoin, Gregory Maxwell in Bitcoin Core, David Chom and Eakash, Vinay Gupta in Matrium, Jim Bell in Assassination Politics, Peter Todd in Bitcoin Core, Len Sassaman in Remailers, Eva Galperin against Stalkerware, Sulet Dreyfus and Free Speech, featured vector image by Gary Killian, free pic photograph of John Callis by Skydog Khan, ex thank you for listening to this Hacker Noon story, read by Artificial

Intelligence. Visit HackerNoon.com to read, write, learn and publish.