Startpage.com announced today that Phil Zimmerman, the creator of Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) joined the company "to spearhead its product innovation and crypto-development".

Startpage.com, which is best known for its privacy focused search engine and email service, is known for its firm stance on privacy on the Internet.

The company's Internet search engine can be best described as a privacy-friendly version of Google Search with some nice to have features added to it like a proxy service to access any site through the proxy to protect IP addresses of Startpage users.

Startpage.com CEO Robert Beens revealed that Zimmermann will advise the company on its search product but that Zimmermann's main focus will be the "development of the company's next-generation PGP-encrypted email service".

Startmail is the company's privacy-focused email service. It is a paid service that anyone may try for free. Paid accounts are available for $59.95 per year and that gets users integrated PGP email encryption support, 10 Gigabyte of space, IMAP support, and unlimited disposable aliases to use.

Zimmermann will work on the next version of Startmail and his main focus will be on the cryptographic basis of the service.

The following quote was attributed to Zimmermann in the press release.

Creating a web-based PGP-compatible product that I can use on my laptop and mobile devices solves that problem.”

It appears from that description that integration of PGP in Startmail will be the main focus of Zimmerman at Startpage.

Startpage did not reveal additional information at this point in time. It is probably too early to reveal any considering that Zimmermann joined the company only today.

Closing Words

It seems likely that the hiring of Zimmermann will improve Startpage's standing with privacy and cryptographic groups and community further. We will keep you updated on any products, changes or announcements that come out of this.

Now You: What is your take on Zimmermann joining Startpage?

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Summary Article Name Phil Zimmerman joins Startpage.com Description Startpage.com announced today that Phil Zimmerman, the creator of Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) joined the company "to spearhead its product innovation and crypto-development". Author Martin Brinkmann Publisher Ghacks Technology News Logo

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