Protestor Tech: Apps In The Hands Of Revolutionaries

Karsten Strauss | Forbes | February 25, 2014

The modern-day protestor and revolutionary needs more than just a helmet, throwing-stones and heart filled with righteous passion. These days technology offers invaluable tools to those speaking out against oppressive regimes.

This week Anchorfree – a Mountain View, California-based firm that offers an online privacy app called Hotspot Shield – declared it is allowing Venezuelans free downloads of its iPhone product. “(Last week) we saw a huge spike in our mobile usage in Venezuela,” says Anchorfree CEO David Gorodyansky. “…On Android, PC and Mac people are just using our regular free version, not the elite one. But on iPhone we don’t have a regular free version so basically we gave everyone access to elite on iPhone.” The company’s move comes in response to the Venezuelan government’s decision to block Twitter in the face of anti-government protests that have killed 13 people thus far.

Today the company’s Hotspot Shield is ranked #2 overall in iTunes in the South American country, he said. “It’s part of our mission to provide secure access to the world’s information to every person on the planet.”