Today GNU Privacy Guard (GnuPG) has launched its first crowdfunding campaign with the aim of building a new website and long term infrastructure. The 24.000 EUR target will fund:

• Fresh web interfaces for gnupg.org including mobile
• Completion and release of GnuPG 2.1
• Anonymous Tor network access to the website
• A new user friendly download page suitable for all devices
• A new server for web services
• New pages convening external guides, videos, and handbooks
• Facilities for processing recurring donations for long term project support

Project founder and Lead Developer Werner Koch said “GnuPG has seen a huge upsurge in popularity following recent state spying revelations. After 16 years of continuous development, we are now asking for community support to capitalise on consumer demand for privacy, and make GnuPG easy to access for mainstream audiences”.

GnuPG is one of the few tools remaining above suspicion in the wake of leaked NSA documents. Edward Snowden and his contacts including Bruce Schneier switched to GnuPG when they began handling the secret documents earlier this year. The Wall Street Journal, The Committee to Protect Journalists, and ProPublica have all embraced GnuPG for protection of staff and sources. Phil Zimmermann, original inventor of Pretty Good Privacy (PGP), has also moved to GnuPG in wake of the news.

“GnuPG is a key part of modern privacy infrastructure” said Sam Tuke, Campaign Manager, GnuPG. “Millions of users rely on GnuPG to work securely on servers, laptops and smartphones, but 2013 donations totaling 3.000 EUR to date have not even covered fixed costs. Supporting new algorithms like elliptical curve and fixing newfound exploits fast takes a lot of work which is done voluntarily. Now is the time for people to contribute to making GnuPG slick and more sustainable in future”.

Jacob Appelbaum, Tor Project developer, added “GnuPG is important - it allows us the assurances we need to do our work. Community funding is a critical part of a confident outlook for GnuPG in future.”

For further information, please contact Sam Tuke. Email: samtuke [at] gnupg.org Phone: +49 176 81923811

GnuPG is a leading cryptography app that protects emails and data from interception. It is developed by a community of Free Software engineers led by Werner Koch. GnuPG is used and recommended by the world's top security experts, including Bruce Schneier and Phil Zimmermann. It offers best in class privacy free of charge and restriction. Hundreds of companies have integrated GnuPG into their products to perform mission critical security, including Red Hat, Deutsche Bahn, and many others.

http://gnupg.org