This week, Edward Snowden spoke virtually to thousands in the United States for the first time since fleeing the country after leaking top secret NSA documents about government surveillance. 

After connecting virtually from Russia to Austin's famous South by Southwest (SXSW) conference, Snowden told an audience through a securely-routed livestream session that members of the tech community must challenge NSA and commercial surveillance online.

"South by Southwest and the tech community, the people in the room in Austin, they're the folks who can fix this," Snowden told the crowd in the auditorium and watching online. The whistleblower said that the average person online should be able to protect and secure their experience as much as anyone with knowledge of encryption tools—and not just against federal agencies, but also private companies.

In the spirit of Snowden's message, a cellphone company has just released the "Snowden phone," an encrypted Samsung model meant to ensure privacy. FreedomPop's $189 Samsung Galaxy S2 boasts anonymity for calls, texts and online activity. 

While private companies are often as intrusive as the NSA, fewer young Americans are concerned about the private industry collecting their information than the government, according to a Pew survey. Still, nearly half said that they believe that targeted ads are an unjustified use of private information.