Act like a spy to protect your digital privacy

In today’s social media driven world, people’s entire lives are often stored on their smartphones. Email, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, your photo roll, calendar and notes all provide clues to your location, contacts and personal details. It’s a veritable buffet for identity thieves.

Wickr CEO Nico Sell says, “I’ve been lucky enough to be educated by the very best hackers in the world.”

That’s how she learned how easy it is for people to tap into your mobile phone, eavesdrop on your calls and read your text messages.

Concerned about her own digital footprint and the security of her children, Sell created Wickr – a peer-to-peer encryption app.

No longer are self-destructing texts and top-secret messaging reserved for spies in Bond films.

What makes this app unique is that it contains several layers of encryption. Accounts are bound to a specific device, to ensure anonymity. No personal information is saved to a server, which provides an extra level of protection. And users can set time limits on the messages and media that they share.

“My founders and I were brought together by a very strong belief that private correspondence is a universal human right," says Sell. "It’s extremely important to a free society. And in fact, we consider it the most powerful non-violent weapon that we can give to people"

Watch the video above to hear what other tips Sell has for protecting your digital privacy... and why she's wearing those sunglasses.