New Web-app platform keeps user data private - and PRISM-proof

Researchers at CSAIL have just developed an innovative platform for building web services that keeps user data encrypted at all times and only decrypts it on the user's own computer - helping to prevent hackers, major companies and government agencies from being able to access your data.

Lead researcher Raluca Popa has spearheaded the development of Mylar, a Web development tool that moves the all-important decryption step from the servers you're communicating with to the computer you're using. With Mylar, the server knows what encrypted data to send you, but doesn't know what that data actually is.

Popa and her collaborators have implemented the system at a Boston hospital to make the case that it could be used more widely.