Qualified triples from the transcripts. Origin, speaker, and evidence stay attached. These are not independently verified facts.
Phreeli DEVELOPED_BY Nick Merrill
Nick says he started the mobile phone company Phreeli and designed it around privacy by design.
Explicit Confidence 99% · Nick Merrill EP 176 Details
“I started a mobile phone company”
“I built a company called Phreeli”
Jack says Calyx created CalyxOS as part of its privacy-focused work.
Explicit Confidence 98% · Jack Rhysider EP 176 Details
“the stuff that they’re most notable for is the CalyxOS and the Calyx hotspot”
Calyx DEVELOPED_BY Nick Merrill
Nick Merrill says he started the internet service provider Calyx and later pivoted it into a privacy-focused company.
Explicit Confidence 99% · Jack Rhysider EP 176 Details
“The name of the ISP was called Calyx”
“So, he pivoted with his company, Calyx.”
Case W INVOLVES CREDO Mobile
Case W was another EFF lawsuit involving CREDO after it received another NSL.
Explicit Confidence 99% · Jack Rhysider EP 176 Details
“almost immediately upon CREDO winning their first case, they got served another NSL”
“the EFF called that Case W”
Doe vs. Ashcroft INVOLVES Department of Justice
Nick says the case was brought against the Department of Justice and the FBI.
Explicit Confidence 99% · Nick Merrill EP 176 Details
“The case was against the Department of Justice and the FBI”
Case Z INVOLVES Cloudflare
Case Z was the EFF's coded case for Cloudflare's challenge after Cloudflare received an NSL.
Explicit Confidence 99% · Cindy Cohn EP 176 Details
“Cloudflare had received an NSL”
“the case with Cloudflare they called Case Z”
Doe vs. Gonzales INVOLVES Doe vs. Ashcroft
The case continued under the name Doe vs. Gonzales after John Ashcroft was no longer attorney general; the case was merged with the librarians' challenge.
Explicit Confidence 97% · Jack Rhysider EP 176 Details
“the case got changed to Doe. vs. Gonzales”
“They decided to merge my case with the librarians’ case”
Doe vs. Ashcroft INVOLVES FBI
Nick says the case was brought against the FBI as well as the Department of Justice.
Explicit Confidence 99% · Nick Merrill EP 176 Details
“The case was against the Department of Justice and the FBI”
Case Q INVOLVES CREDO Mobile
Case Q was the EFF's coded case for CREDO Mobile's challenge to the NSL it received.
Explicit Confidence 99% · Cindy Cohn EP 176 Details
“our client was a little phone company called CREDO Mobile”
“this case with CREDO, the telecom provider, was called Case Q”
Case Q INVOLVES National Security Letter
CREDO Mobile challenged the National Security Letter it had received.
Explicit Confidence 99% · Cindy Cohn EP 176 Details
“they wanted to fight the NSL that they received”
Merrill vs. Lynch INVOLVES Department of Justice
Nick says he settled with the government in an agreement that stopped the case and removed his gag order so he could tell the story.
Explicit Confidence 98% · Nick Merrill EP 176 Details
“We made a settlement with the government at that point”
“they would un-gag me and let me tell the story of what happened”
Doe vs. Ashcroft INVOLVES National Security Letter
The Doe vs. Ashcroft constitutional challenge concerned the National Security Letter Nick received.
Explicit Confidence 99% · Nick Merrill EP 176 Details
“We filed a legal challenge, a constitutional challenge, to the validity of the national security letter provision of the Patriot Act”
“the case was called Doe vs. Ashcroft”
Doe vs. Ashcroft INVOLVES American Civil Liberties Union
The ACLU represented Nick Merrill in the Doe vs. Ashcroft challenge.
Explicit Confidence 99% · Jack Rhysider EP 176 Details
“the ACLU entered the courtroom to represent Nick Merrill in this case”
Merrill vs. Lynch INVOLVES National Security Letter
Merrill vs. Lynch concerned lifting the gag order associated with Nick's National Security Letter after the government withdrew the letter.
Explicit Confidence 98% · Jack Rhysider EP 176 Details
“this case changed to Doe vs. Holder”
“this case ended up being called Merrill vs. Lynch”
Phreeli USES metadata minimization
Phreeli is designed to collect and retain as little customer information and metadata as possible.
Explicit Confidence 98% · Nick Merrill EP 176 Details
“you can sign up and give as little as just your zip code”
“I log as little as possible”
Phreeli USES encryption
Phreeli uses extensive encryption to make its phone service more private and limit linkability between customers and phone numbers.
Explicit Confidence 99% · Jack Rhysider EP 176 Details
“He uses a ton of encryption”
CalyxOS is described as taking Android and removing Google components and telemetry.
Explicit Confidence 99% · Jack Rhysider EP 176 Details
“What they did is they took the Android OS, ripped out all the Google stuff”
PEO exploit AFFECTS Program Executive Office Enterprise Information System
The PEO exploit affected the US Army's Program Executive Office Enterprise Information System.
Explicit Confidence 99% · Jack Rhysider EP 177 Details
“an exploit for an unknown vulnerability in the US army IT platform called the Program Executive Office Enterprise Information System”
USDoD is described as a hacker from Brazil and as living in Brazil in the account attributed to him.
Explicit Confidence 98% · Jack Rhysider EP 177 Details
“this hacker from Brazil”
“the hacker known as USDoD was living in Brazil”
Salvatore Verini Jr. ASSOCIATED_WITH Perfect Privacy LLC
Jack says Sal supposedly sold his data-broker company to Perfect Privacy LLC; the account is explicitly hedged.
Uncertain Confidence 84% · Jack Rhysider EP 177 Details
“Sal supposedly sold his data broker company to another company which is ironically called Perfect Privacy LLC.”
National Public Data breach ATTRIBUTED_TO USDoD
The breach is attributed in the episode to Luan, operating as USDoD, who took the National Public Data records and posted them for sale.
Explicit Confidence 99% · Jack Rhysider EP 177 Details
“Luan took everything, 2.9 billion lines of data, 277 gigabytes worth”
“he posts it for sale online as USDoD”
USDoD COMPROMISES National Public Data
USDoD gained access to National Public Data after reusing credentials that first enabled access to Records Check.
Explicit Confidence 99% · Jack Rhysider EP 177 Details
“Sal reused passwords, which allowed Luan to log in to National Public Data”
National Public Data breach COMPROMISES National Public Data
The National Public Data breach compromised the data held by National Public Data.
Explicit Confidence 99% · Jack Rhysider EP 177 Details
“National Public Data leaked full names, birthdays, social security numbers, home addresses, past addresses, e-mail addresses, and phone numbers all in plain text.”
National Public Data CONTAINS members.zip
The breach narrative identifies members.zip as a publicly accessible file containing site source code and embedded administrator credentials; the file was found on the connected Records Check site.
Explicit Direction flagged Confidence 88% · Jack Rhysider EP 177 Details
“one file stood out, members.zip”
“Members.zip had Sal’s site’s source code, and buried inside the code were admin credentials.”
National Public Data DEVELOPED_BY Salvatore Verini Jr.
Sal created National Public Data as the flagship site of his data-broker business.
Explicit Confidence 99% · Jack Rhysider EP 177 Details
“the flagship site, National Public Data”