In light of recent NSA leaks, it’s clear that the average user cannot depend on third parties like Google or Yahoo to keep their information private. ParselTongue is a Chrome extension that allows users to keep their Gmail communications private, while retaining the normal Gmail experience. ParselTongue users can encrypt emails sent to other users so that the only people who can read the email are those who are meant to. Thus, ParselTongue is a proof-of-concept of privacy on the web.

After learning the basics of security in classes like 6.858 and applying them at internships in the industry with companies like Kayak.com or Locu, I’m excited to now be able to apply them to research.