Protecting personal information online has become a top priority for many individuals. With the constant threat of data breaches and hackers, there is a growing need for innovative solutions that can help users safeguard their online identities. Enter Cloaked, a privacy and security startup based in New York, which aims to provide users with a comprehensive solution for managing logins and protecting their personal information.
Key Takeaway
Cloaked, a New York-based privacy and security startup, has launched its apps to provide users with a comprehensive solution for managing logins and protecting personal information. With unique features such as proxy emails, virtual phone numbers, and a built-in password manager, Cloaked offers users a secure and convenient way to safeguard their online identities. Emphasizing security and privacy, Cloaked ensures that user data is encrypted and separate from other users, making it difficult for hackers to gain access. With plans for future enhancements, such as family-sharing and integrating virtual credit cards, Cloaked aims to continue providing innovative solutions for privacy management.
Introducing Cloaked: Your Personal Privacy Guardian
Cloaked has recently launched its apps, making its solution available to everyone. With its web app, Chrome extension, and mobile apps for both Android and iOS, Cloaked offers users a suite of tools to create unique proxy emails, phone numbers, and passwords for their online accounts.
The concept behind Cloaked is simple yet powerful. Users can create “identities” consisting of usernames, passwords, email addresses, and phone numbers. These identities can be used for different categories of websites, such as e-commerce, social media, and newsletters, allowing users to avoid giving up their actual details.
Cloaked offers a subscription-based service, with a cost of $10 per month or $100 per year. Users can enjoy a 14-day free trial and have the ability to create unlimited identities.
A Comprehensive Solution for Privacy Protection
While Cloaked provides all the functionality of a password manager, the startup aims to be much more than that. Similar to Apple’s Hide My Email feature, Cloaked masks users’ real email addresses and allows for customization of email addresses. Additionally, Cloaked can act as an inbox, enabling users to avoid forwarding emails to their actual email addresses. Unlike other services that simply hide email addresses, Cloaked provides a complete email routing solution.
In addition to proxy emails, Cloaked also offers the ability to create virtual numbers, similar to Google Voice, for SMS and signing up for services. Currently, this feature is only available in the United States.
One unique aspect of Cloaked is that it acts as a proper phone company. Unlike services that rely on third-party platforms like Twilio, Cloaked works directly with a tier-one carrier, handling all the routing for phone numbers. This ensures a high level of reliability and security.
Emphasizing Security and Privacy
Cloaked places a strong emphasis on security and privacy. The company has implemented measures to protect user data, including storing each customer’s data in separate encrypted databases. This ensures that even if the server is breached, hackers will not have access to users’ personal information.
Furthermore, Cloaked uses data poisoning to assign one phone number to multiple people. This prevents data aggregators from identifying the exact user behind the proxy number. However, for privacy reasons, if a person signs up for a service like Signal, Cloaked does not assign that number to anyone else.
The startup is working towards a zero-knowledge architecture, which means that the master password used to unlock a Cloaked profile never hits the company’s servers. This ensures that Cloaked does not have unilateral access to customer data.
The Future of Cloaked
Looking ahead, Cloaked has ambitious plans to enhance its service. By the end of this year, the company aims to introduce family-sharing and group-sharing for identities. Additionally, Cloaked is working on integrating credit cards into identities, allowing users to generate virtual cards that they can use instead of sharing their real card numbers. Users will have the ability to generate an unlimited number of cards and set limits for each of them.
