Over the last few months, the Guardian Project team has been thinking about how to approach the next five years of our work. An idea of “security so easy and seamless, that it is boring” came to the surface through some discussions. This led us to look for inspiration in important inventions and innovations of the past, that provide safety and security to all on a day-to-day basis, without the users of these technologies hardly thinking about them. This is no longer about James Bond super-spy technologies, it is about having as little impact on your day-to-day use of mobile technology while still providing the maximum protection to your data and communications, as possible.

Here then, as inspiration and our guiding lights, is our list of safety inventions of the past that we aim to be “Boring Like….”

Boring Like Seat Belts (buckle up!)

Boring Like Pasteurized Milk (though of course, we do respect your raw dairy folks out there…)

Boring Like Baby Gates (kids and dogs hate ’em, but they are a necessary fun killer for any household)

Boring Like Smoke Detectors (though our friends at Birdi are aiming to make them exciting again…)

Boring Like Childproof Lids (again, for the parents out there, a literal life saver)

Boring Like Anti-Lock Brakes (the modern automobile is one of the best examples of bore-sec!)

Boring Like Surge Protectors (wouldn’t you rather lose your $2 power strip then your $1000 computer?)

Boring Like Restaurant Inspections (peace of mind from a single letter rating when you go out to eat…)

Boring Like Life Vests (even dogs love ’em!)

Have some ideas of other great “Bore-Sec” tech? Add them in the comments!

With our work on critical security and privacy enhancements for mobile devices and apps, we aim to bore. The best security is the kind you don’t have to worry about, until you need it (and then you won’t know how you ever lived without it…)

Here’s to breaking new “Bore-Sec” ground in 2015! Happy New Year!