Cryptee | About

ABOUT

In these challenging times, when our digital lives are cataloged on servers and when companies are bidding on our data, we have almost no space left to call our own. Nowadays it's all too easy to trade privacy and security for convenience. Internet is polluted with trackers, ads, metrics, and apps designed to get you addicted. Every week you read about it on the news... Yet another venture-capital backed startup, raises millions, offers a free product with no clear plan how to make the money back, and asks you to trust them with their data. We are sick and tired of it. So we decided to do something about it.

We started Cryptee in 2017 with A simple goal: To create a safe & private space on the internet. A calm & quiet place, where there are no trackers, no ads, no metrics or addictive features. On Cryptee your data is encrypted on your device and you hold the keys. So we can't read your documents, see your photos or videos, and no one else can either. And we made Cryptee in Europe, for your privacy, security & peace of mind.

We are proudly 100% bootstrapped, sustainable and more than profitable. So we don't need to cut corners, sacrifice your privacy or good design. We have the luxury to take our time to get it all right. We are an independent company, not reliant on any venture capital or external funding, so we only answer to you.

We are coders, artists, activists, photographers, designers, makers and rebels, working at the intersection of art and technology, lead by our founder, an avid, active and vocal data-privacy activist, a musician and a minimalist.

WHO?

here are the team of humans / misfits / rebels, working hard every day to make internet safer & more private.

JOHN OZBAY

founder • ceo • code • design

the minimalist / pianist person who made cryptee. coder with ms from carnegie mellon, who once made weird tech projects for big fancy-name tech companies, not listed here to avoid search engine optimization headaches. he was also at the oscars™ in 2016 but not for the usual reasons you'd expect.

code

BJØRN

code

INGRID

qa • testing • docs

ANNA

qa • testing • photos

LIAM

technical writer • wordsmith • help

EVAN

help

HAZEL

WHERE?

ESTONIA, EUROPE.

according to our attorneys, it's one of the few places where your data can be kept as legally safe as possible on this planet.

photos of tallinn by hert niks & kevin lehtla

STORY

once upon a time, there was a software developer / minimalist / pianist. he lived in ny, and had a master's degree in gadgetry & magic from carnegie mellon university. he would wear his tin-foil hat every day and think: "wouldn't it be amazing if there was a way to keep my files and photos safe, without big companies taking a look at them?"

every day, for a whole year, he came home from his uninspiring 9 to 5 job, and coded his dream software. one day, while drinking wine on his rooftop he realized the most awful thing. as a european, living in u.s. on a work visa, he can't just casually start up a company in the u.s! it would invalidate his visa. because yay freedom (!) :(

so he thought to himself, "fuck this. i'm moving to europe!" and in a mere, short 30 days, he packed his tiny studio apartment in ny, moved to a magical country called estonia and started up his dream company with his savings.