And it's not just strong encryption; Silent Circle is built on ?making services that can't be compromised, that are designed to take even the company out of the equation. In theory, Silent Circle founders always say, even they can't spy on you because they use end-to-end encryption and don't have access to the keys. And in turn, governments can't force them to turn over their users' data.

In light of the recent debate over encryption, led by the FBI Director James Comey, who has publicly said that new encryption technologies threaten "to lead all of us to a very dark place," it might seems a little ironic that some parts of the US government want exactly what other parts are railing against.

Even the people selling these apps and phones to the Pentagon haven't missed the irony.