## Why encryption?

Why bother with encryption? Privacy! When you talk over a data network, anybody connected to your network or with access to any of the links your sound data passes through on its way to a distant Internet site can potentially eavesdrop on your conversation. Encryption, based on a key known only to you and person you're talking to, protects against interception by third parties. No encryption scheme can be absolutely guaranteed to be 100% secure and even if it were, you'd still be at risk if somebody gained access to your key. But the encryption offered by Speak Freely, particularly the AES and Blowfish algorithms, provides a great deal of security, indeed better than any generally available digital cellular telephone.