Cape among list of winners selected for the Privacy & Security category, highlighting importance of secure communications for high-risk individuals and public figures like elected officials, corporate executives, and journalists

Cape, America’s privacy-first mobile carrier, was announced as a winner on TIME’s annual list of Best Inventions, which recognizes 300 extraordinary innovations changing our lives. Cape’s first-of-its-kind Obscura product, an ultra-secure cell phone service that offers protection against threats like location stalking, cell site simulators, carrier compromise, and SIM swapping, was included in this year’s Privacy & Security category.

Cape Obscura challenges the assumption that being reachable means being trackable by making privacy the default setting for staying connected. It is the first consumer-ready private cellular service that implements network identifier rotation technology, an innovation that allows your phone’s network identity to change on a regular basis.

Traditionally, carriers provision each SIM card with a permanent identifier – an IMSI – which makes it easy for bad actors, governments and data brokers to tie all of your movements, calls, and data sessions together over time. By introducing identifier rotation, Obscura severs that link: your IMSI refreshes daily, effectively making you appear as a new person on the network each day.

Obscura was originally built for national security professionals but quickly became essential to others involved in sensitive work, like journalists; and those at high risk of digital attacks, like domestic abuse survivors. Its rapid adoption shows the demand for opting out of 24/7 tracking.

“It’s an honor to be recognized as a TIME Best Inventions winner for Obscura,” said John Doyle, cofounder and CEO of Cape. “Obscura is a groundbreaking innovation we are very proud to offer that protects against today’s most pernicious attacks, and which proves that this level of protection is both possible and necessary for many.”

To compile this year's list, TIME solicited nominations from TIME editors and correspondents around the world, and through an online application process, paying special attention to growing fields—such as health care and AI. TIME then evaluated each contender on a number of key factors, including originality, efficacy, ambition, and impact.

See the full list here: time.com/collections/best-inventions-2025/

About Cape

Cape is a cellular network providing device and network solutions to government, consumers and enterprises. Its mission is to ensure communication is private, secure and resilient. The company has raised $61M from investors such as A*, Andreessen Horowitz, Costanoa Ventures, ex/ante, Point72 Ventures, XYZ Ventures, Forward Deployed VC, and Karman Ventures. Its research partners include leading institutions in cybersecurity, such as the University of Maryland, the Air Force Research Laboratory, and others.

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