Open source projects and standards for learning about data privacy

I recently created a starter list of ten open source projects and open standards that represent a great basic foundation for developers to learn more about securing their communications, applications, integrations and products. Since my background is in commerce and transaction APIs and software-as-a-service, I asked for a lot of recommendations as I got myself up to speed with the data security space.

With this goal in mind and in no particular order, here is our current Top 10 list of favorite open source projects we see developers currently using to learn more about securing their communications, applications, integrations and products:

1. Certbot: (previously Let’s Encrypt): EFF’s tool to obtain certs from Let’s Encrypt, and (optionally) auto-enable HTTPS on your server.
2. Keybase: Maps your identity to your public keys, and vice versa.
3. Google End-To-End: A library and a Chrome extension that helps you encrypt, decrypt, digital sign, and verify signed messages within the browser using OpenPGP.
4. Square Valet: Securely store data in the iOS or OS X Keychain without knowing a thing about how the keychain works.
5. ZeroNet: Decentralized websites using Bitcoin crypto and the BitTorrent network.
6. Google BoringSSL or LibreSSL: Established forks of OpenSSL, a cryptography and SSL/TLS toolkit.
7. Lantern: Delivers fast, reliable and secure access to the open Internet for users in censored regions using a variety of techniques to stay unblocked, including P2P and domain fronting.
8. Blockstack: The blockchain application stack for building secure apps.
9. JWT: JSON web tokens are an open, industry standard RFC 7519 method for representing claims securely between two parties
10. OpenID Connect: An interoperable authentication protocol based on the OAuth 2.0 family of specifications.

To read my full thoughts about the bringing visibility AND privacy to big data and Internet of Things, you can read my full post at the Ionic.com blog. Thanks to Gene Chorba and Ryan Speers for helping me curate this list for developers.