????Silent Circle是一個用來加密通話的應用軟件。它靠人們的臆想賺錢，比如害怕政府可能與大型科技公司合作建立巨大的監視機制，而且多年來一直對公眾隱瞞實情。

????所以自然而然，當新聞披露美國政府的確在收集大量美國人的通話和郵件數據后，Silent Circle發現這是一個絕佳的機會。這家公司稱，關于美國國家安全局（National Security Agency）數據收集活動的報道推動他們的銷量在過去一周內飆升了480%。

????Silent Circle并不是唯一一家因人們日益關注隱私問題而盈利的公司?！袄忡R門”事件爆發前，像Snapchat，以及更小范圍內的Facebook的Poke等應用，已經新增了大批用戶，他們都想消除上網痕跡。更加認真的客戶可以選擇Wickr，它能讓用戶創建含自毀功能的信息和相片。公司CEO尼科?賽爾稱，“棱鏡門”發生后，這款應用的下載量在北美增加了156%，全球增加了116%。Immunity的高級安全研究員馬克?沃格樂在美國有線電視新聞網財經頻道（CNN Money）的一次采訪中說：“如果國家安全局繼續進行這種監控，將會催生一個全新的手機加密軟件市場。這是應用開發商所能期待的最好的市場營銷?！?/p>

????然而，晨星公司（Morningstar）分析師格雷迪?伯克特提醒道，消費者的興趣未必會長久。他說：“我不認為這會成為大型新產業的契機。沒錯，你的下載量可能會飆升，短期內能掙到一些錢，但我不覺得它會在長期內帶來巨大收入?！碑斎?，這取決于國家安全局的新聞需要多久才能淡出公眾視線。如果政府竊聽和收集商業數據的新消息持續占據頭條，短期內公眾對安全的擔憂就不太可能消退。

????Silent Circle有約60名員工設計產品，讓用戶可以通過加密網絡進行無法跟蹤的通話，這類產品還可以發送加密短信和電子郵件。使用一個名為Burn Notice的功能，用戶還可以設定文件自毀的時間。盡管這個功能讓人想起Snapchat，這家公司卻表示，兩者沒有可比性。Silent Circle起源于軍方，并不希望成為一個社交網絡。它不知道用戶的名字，不儲存用戶的信息，大多數情況下都用于提供視頻會議和傳送大型文件服務。

????Silent Circle有70%的客戶都來自商界和政府。其中包括15家財富50強公司和全球8家情報機構。它還與奢侈手機制造商Vertu合作，發布了售價10,000美元的超安全手機。

????Silent Circle, an app that allows users to place encrypted phone calls, makes money on paranoia. Paranoia like, say, the fear that the government might build a massive surveillance operation in cooperation with major tech companies and then keep it secret from the public for years.

????So naturally, after news broke that the government really was gathering large amounts of data on Americans' phone calls and e-mails, Silent Circle found itself in a sweet spot. The company says reports of the National Security Agency's data-gathering activities drove a huge increase in sales -- up 480% in the last seven days.

????Silent Circle isn't the only company that's making money off increased privacy concerns. Pre-NSA news, apps like Snapchat, and to a lesser extent Facebook's (FB) Poke, had already seen big growth from users who want to cover their tracks online. For the more serious consumer, there'sWickr, which allows users to create self-destructing messages and photos. The company saw downloads increase 156% in North America and 116% internationally since the story broke, said CEO Nico Sell. "If the NSA pushes this, then it will create a whole new market for encryption software on phones," security researcher Mark Wuergler, senior security researcher of Immunity said in an interview with CNN Money. "This is the best marketing these app developers could have hoped for."

????Morningstar (MORN) analyst Grady Burkett cautions that consumers' interest may be short-lived, though. "I don't think this is going to create some kind of big launch pad," Burkett said. "Yeah, you might get an uptick in downloads and create some money in the near term, but I wouldn't think in the long-term this is going to create a huge spike in revenue." Of course, that will depend on how quickly the NSA story fades from the spotlight. If new tales of government wiretapping and commercial data-gathering continue to make headlines, it seems unlikely security worries will ebb in the near future.

????At Silent Circle, about 60 employees engineer products that allow users to make virtually untraceable calls over an encrypted network, as well as send encrypted text messages and e-mails. With a feature called Burn Notice, users can also set a specific amount of time until a file self-destructs. Though that function calls Snapchat to mind, the company says there's no comparison. Silent Circle, with its roots in the military, has no ambition at becoming a social network. It doesn't know your name, won't store your details, and derives much of its usage from services like videoconference and transferring large files.

????About 70% of Silent Circle's users are business or government customers. That includes 15 Fortune 50 companies, plus eight intelligence agencies throughout the world. It has also partnered with luxury phone maker Vertu to put out a $10,000 hyper-secure phone.