A new platform for building Web applications, called Mylar, aims to provide encryption services that activate on your computer before data ever moves to a server.

Created by MIT researchers and the Meteor Development Group, Mylar is a redesign of the architecture of Web applications that aims to protect confidential data against attacks. Data is encrypted in your Web browser before it goes to a server, and it is only decrypted on a computer on the other end. As MIT researcher and co-developer of the platform Raluca Popa explained, "There's really no trusting a server."

Popa elaborated on how the system works, telling MIT Technology Review: "You don't notice any difference... If the government asks the company for your data, the server doesn't have the ability to give unencrypted data."

While this concept is not new, Mylar promises to be a practical tool that the creators believe could be adopted on a mass scale. Nevertheless, while University of Pennsylvania researcher Ariel Feldman also believes Mylar to be an impressive platform, he told MIT Technology Review that it will be difficult to convince Web companies to embrace such a thorough encryption scheme any time soon.

A further challenge facing the system is the risk of permanent loss of data should a user misplace his or her password. Mylar's creators claim that sharing data over the system is possible since it can distribute encryption keys in a way that protects the data against being disclosed to either snoops or the server.