As a part of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s push to expand Internet freedoms across the globe, the U.S. State Department is developing a smart phone app which will allow international activists to hit a “panic button,” wiping out their cell phone’s address book, contacts, text messages, and even emit emergency alerts to other activists. This app is designed to protect networks of pro-Democracy activists in the event that their phone is confiscated by police. But, is this app really going to be an impediment to agents of a repressive regime? How plausible is it to delete your history in a digital world? And how long until we see such “user-wipeable” technology here in the states? Justin Brookman, director of consumer privacy at the Center for Democracy and Technology, answers these questions.
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