At Privacy Pros, we believe that privacy is a right we must all protect on our own. But that doesn’t mean you need to do it alone. That’s why Bryan and Colin Aulds created Privacy Pros.
If you have been interested in Bitcoin at all the past few years, you’ve probably heard of our product, the Billfodl. If you haven’t, it is a product designed to keep your Bitcoin ‘private keys’ (which are basically very long passwords) safe from all sorts of threats. My brother Colin and I became so obsessed with this project that we became experts in it.
As it turns out (and we’ll be covering this more in the coming days), Bitcoin is not the only technology that uses private keys to keep digital data safe and secure. There are all sorts of technologies you use every day that depend on them (your email and your internet connection are good examples). But private keys and encryption are still such a small piece of the puzzle.
As we developed a group of loyal and enthusiastic customers, we found that many of them had questions about what else they could do to keep their Bitcoin safe. But many were worried about much more than just their Bitcoin.
They wanted to:
In short, our customers are just a few of the many people who are realizing that we each have an identity online, and often that identity can be used to harm us.
Sometimes we knew how to help the people who reached out to us. Sometimes we didn’t. Over time, we either became the expert or we had one on speed dial for more or less any question you might have about cyber-security.
But more importantly, we knew how to explain these concepts so that anyone could understand how to take action and improve their online security. That is when we stopped being Billfodl and we started being Privacy Pros.
Bryan and Colin are the creators of Billfodl wallet and the founders of Privacy Pros. They are both hosts on The Unhashed Podcast .
Colin and Bryan have written for outlets such as ShopBestVPN and BuyBitcoinWorldWide .
Colin graduated from Belmont University with a bachelors in Business Administration in 2011. He was a registered rep with New York Life Insurance Company from 2011 to 2014, where he advised clients on how to use insurance instruments to minimize tax liability and utilize infinite banking to decrease reliance on debt with big banks.
It was in 2011 that he first heard of Bitcoin on the Mises.org forum ( when it existed ) and then libertyHQ forums forums where he wrote volumes under the ‘TexasTrigger’ pseudonym. Unfortunately, he thought Bitcoin was stupid, and remained a gold bug.
That is, until he moved to Seoul, South Korea in 2014 where he met Ruben Somsen, founder of the Seoul Bitcoin Meetup.
Colin now works as webmaster for BuyBitcoinWorldWide.com and PrivacyPros.io where he also writes. Colin is now webmaster and head of digital marketing at PrivacyPros.io
Follow him on twitter.
Bryan graduated from the United States Naval Academy with a Bachelors of Science in Naval Architecture in 2007. He then flew helicopters for HSC-9 off of the aircraft carrier USS G.H.W. BUSH. It was on the Bush that he was first exposed to intensive security situations, flying plane guard and Anti-Terrorism Force Protection flights for the carrier. He even escorted the carrier through the straights of Hormuz, coming into contact with armed Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps vessels and small craft.
Several years later, Bryan would return to the middle east to work for the US Navy Central Command Staff's Anti-Terrorism Force Protection Office. He also attended the DoD Anti-Terrorism Force Protection Planning training, which focused on assessing threats and designing systems and procedures in order to mitigate the potential damage from those threats.
He would use this training in the volatile Middle East Region to help drive policy and planning for all US Navy forces in the middle east. He worked with NCIS and the US Embassy staff of many Middle Eastern countries, including Qatar, Oman, Jordan, Bahrain, Kuwait, and the UAE, to liaise with the host countries to ensure US vessels pulling into various ports had the latest intel and threat information.
With the help of his brother Colin, Bryan started Billfodl.com in late 2017 and left the US Navy in 2018. Bryan is now head of Business Development and strategy at PrivacyPros.io
As hosts of the Unhashed Podcast, Colin and Bryan help bring Bitcoin down to Earth and demystify a lot of false claims about blockchains and what they are actually capable of. They are joined every week by lead maintainer of the Bitcoin Mailing list Ruben Somsen and lead customer support agent for Blockstream Green Mario Gibney.
The show is part of the prestigious Lets Talk Bitcoin Network .
Billfodl.com is launched
Billfodl becomes the 4th ecommerce store in history to accept lightning network payments.
Nicolas Dorier makes his first lightning network payment to Bryan Aulds and shortly thereafter adds lightning support to BTCPayServer.
Unhashed podcast is launched
Billfodl releases its faraday bag product, starting Billfodl's journey as a cyber-security company
Billfodl becomes the first and only backup to be tested at a department of homeland security testing site , surviving a 600 gallon jet fuel burn.
Billfodl releases the Multi-shard, revolutionizing the steel backup category
Unhashed Podcast becomes part of the Let's Talk Bitcoin Network
Billfodl rebrands as Privacy Pros
Rafael Yakobi is Managing Attorney at The Crypto Lawyers, where he has worked for a wide array of clients, including Bitcoin.com, BuyBitcoinWorldWide, Binance, and Billfodl, among others. You can contact The Crypto Lawyers for your crypto law needs.
Mike is the host of Bitcoin Car Talk.. He is also the court jester of Bitcoin.Follow him on twitter.
Scott is a freelance writer and researcher studying the link between human traffickers' and sex workers' use of Bitcoin.
Chris is a freelance writer and graduate student living in China. You can read his articles on his blog here. He is also a former organizer of the Seoul Bitcoin Meetup.
Peter is a privacy researcher and freelance writer whose work has been featured in many great online publications such as this one. In his spare time he loves to spend time with his family and play with his dog.
