In just 36 hours, users contributed $100,000 to fund an app designed to get around state spy agencies like the US National Security Agency (NSA). Swedish tech entrepreneurs, including Pirate Bay co-founder Peter Sunde, successfully crowdfunded the planned iOS and Android app named Heml.is, Swedish for "secret".
The creators claim, "We're building a message app where no one can listen in, not even us". The project seeks to provide an alternative to services offered by major tech companies, which they say "have been forced to open up their systems and hound out information about their users".