LONDON — A Texas-based secure email service reportedly used by National Security Agency systems analyst Edward Snowden says it is shutting down and can’t legally explain why.
In a cryptic note posted Thursday to the Lavabit website, owner Ladar Levison said the company is folding rather than becoming, in his words, “complicit in crimes against the American people.” Levison didn’t return a phone call from The Associated Press.
The post doesn’t elaborate, but Snowden’s disclosures have focused attention on how the U.S. government can secretly compel companies to hand over customer information and gag them from talking about it.
Lavabit’s information may be of interest to investigators chasing Snowden’s leaks. Public records show that someone going by “Ed Snowden” registered three addresses with the Dallas firm over the past four years.
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