a Private Social Network for Cell Phones

Researchers at Microsoft have developed mobile social networking software that lets users share personal information with friends but not the network itself, Technology Review reports.

“When you share a photo or other information with a friend on [a site like] Flickr, their servers are also able to read that information,” explains Iqbal Mohomed, a researcher at Microsoft Research Silicon Valley, who developed the new network, called Contrail, with several colleagues. “With Contrail, the central location doesn’t ever know my information, or what particular users care about–it just sees encrypted stuff to pass on.”