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Skype Co-Founder Launches End-To-End Encrypted 'Wire' App (reuters.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the private-conversations dept.

An anonymous reader writes: A group of former Skype technologists, backed by the co-founder of the messaging platform, has introduced a new version of its own messaging service that promises end-to-end encryption for all conversations, including by video. Wire, a 50-person start-up mostly made up of engineers, is stepping into a global political debate over encryption that pits privacy against security advocates, epitomized by the standoff between the U.S. government and Apple. Wire, which is headquartered in Switzerland and Germany, two of the most privacy-friendly countries in the world, relays communications through its network of cloud computers where user communications are stored, in encrypted form, on their own devices. It delivers privacy protections that are always on, even when callers use multiple devices, such as a phone or desktop PC simultaneously. For voice and video calls, Wire uses the same DTLS and SRTP encryption standards found in the peer-to-peer WebRTC protocol. Rivals such as Facebook's Messenger and WhatsApp or Telegram offer encryption on only parts of a message's journey or for a specific set of services, the company said. "Everything is end-to-end encrypted: That means voice and video calls, texts, pictures, graphics -- all the content you can send," Wire Executive Chairman Janus Friis told Reuters.

3 of 52 comments (clear)

  1. From Theri Privacy Policy by Sax+Russell+5449D29A · · Score: 3, Informative

    Using the Service to communicate by chat, our servers store the content of your chat conversation and log other information such as the time and date of your conversations, and the other user or users with whom you are communicating.

    Kind of awkward if that means what I think it means.

    --
    -SR
  2. Whisper System's "Signal" already available by Burz · · Score: 4, Informative

    Wire appears to compete with Signal. And there are others, some of which the EFF has reviewed: https://www.eff.org/secure-mes...

  3. Business model? by NotInHere · · Score: 5, Informative

    1. They claim that wire is free (as in beer).

    2. They claim that wire protects your data and privacy.

    3. They claim that wire runs no ads.

    4. They run a profit oriented company, not an open source foundation, and I have heard nothing about their business model

    Its easy to confirm claims 1, 3 and 4. Its very hard to confirm claim 2. What do they want to make money with?

    Am I supposed to believe they are altruist?