Super-private Facebook rival launched

Minds.com, a new social network, aims to take on Facebook and other social media sites – yet with an emphasis on privacy and security.

The site, backed by hacking group Anonymous, appears to be a fairly standard social network, where users send updates to their friends. However, unlike other social media giants, all messages are encrypted to avoid snooping advertisers and governments.

According to its creators, the site is a “new web paradigm” that “gives everyone a voice.”

“For every mobile vote, comment, remind swipe and upload you earn points which can be exchanged for views on posts of your choice,” the network claims, adding that it will not – as other social giants do - make money by selling user data.

The group behind the project has made it entirely open source, so that anyone can contribute to the design and upkeep of the network.