{"id":34,"date":"2025-01-21T15:30:19","date_gmt":"2025-01-21T15:30:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/private.ki\/blog\/?p=34"},"modified":"2026-01-22T17:40:00","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T17:40:00","slug":"our-story-what-is-private-ki","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/private.ki\/blog\/our-story-what-is-private-ki\/","title":{"rendered":"Our story: What is Private.Ki?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Hi. This is Private.Ki<\/a>. We\u2019re a team of passionate security experts and engineers with decades of experience working on and around the internet. Some of us still remember the satisfying screech of a dial-up modem connecting at 9,600 bits per second, the days when going online tied up your family\u2019s only telephone line. It\u2019s remarkable how far the internet has come since then – yet at the same time, it\u2019s surprising how much remains unchanged in terms of basic security practices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the longest time, sending an email was akin to mailing a postcard: the content remained in plain view, available for anyone with access to the path it traveled. You may think, \u201cSurely everyone knew about this?\u201d Indeed, this was hardly a well-kept secret\u2014yet countless people continued to transmit business plans, medical records, and highly personal information over email with no encryption whatsoever. Perhaps it was due to convenience, or maybe a general feeling of \u201cI have nothing to hide\u201d prevailed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then came 2013, when Edward Snowden, a former NSA contractor, blew the whistle on the extent of global surveillance<\/a>. Suddenly, the fragility of internet security wasn\u2019t just the concern of a few \u201cparanoid\u201d experts. It became front-page news. Individuals, businesses, and governments everywhere had to come to terms with the reality that our communications weren\u2019t just unprotected\u2014they were actively being collected, scrutinized, and stored.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Private.Ki, we saw that moment as both an alarm bell and a call to action. We had already been working on the concept of a secure email service\u2014one that would operate like a fortress against prying eyes. However, at that time, we lacked the blueprint, the open-source encryption libraries (like what eventually became OpenPGP.js), and the robust infrastructure necessary to fully achieve our vision under intense time pressure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That initial Private.Ki, launched in 2013, taught us some hard but valuable lessons. Despite our passion and commitment, we learned firsthand that building a truly secure communications platform goes far beyond simply layering encryption onto existing solutions. Every line of code, every system integration, every single user interaction has to be designed with security in mind from the ground up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Private.Ki in 2013 didn\u2019t fully achieve its goals then, it didn\u2019t fail in the way most people think of failure. It was more of a \u201cnot yet<\/em>.\u201d We planted the seeds, discovered what didn\u2019t work, and gathered insights on how to do it better next time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some time ago, we decided to restart, armed with more knowledge, better technology, and a clearer understanding of the threats we\u2019re up against. Today, we\u2019re again focused on our core mission: to create the most secure communication system the world has ever seen<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n