FireChat: The internet-free messaging app that's keeping the Hong Kong protests connected

[Ichingcarpenter]

How is that possible?

Instead of relying on a central server, it is based on peer-to-peer “mesh networking” and connects to nearby phones using Bluetooth and WiFi, with connectivity increasing as more people use it in an area.


In Hong Kong mostly, where pro-democracy protesters are using it to communicate amid fears of network shutdowns.

It's also been used by Iraqis and Taiwanese students during their anti-Beijing Sunflower Movement.

Aside from not being reliant on the internet (which some governments restrict), it is more clandestine and less traceable.

How popular is FireChat?

Over 100,000 people downloaded it in 24 hours in Hong Kong over the weekend, with the CEO saying that numbers are "booming" and up to 33,000 people were using the app at the same time.


http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/what-is-firechat-the-internetfree-messaging-app-thats-sweeping-the-world-9763070.html



That's pretty kool and smart...power to the people.

[Ichingcarpenter]

1. More from NewScientist

Mesh networks can be useful for people who are caught in natural disasters or, like those in Hong Kong, protesting under tricky conditions. FireChat came in handy for protesters in Taiwan and Iraq this year.

But they also come with risks. Hans-Christoph Steiner at The Guardian Project, which helps activists circumvent censorship, warns that Firechat has no built-in encryption, so messages can be read by anyone within range. "This is not nearly as bad as one central authority being able to read all the messages. Nevertheless, it is something that at-risk users need to be aware of," he says. FireChat has said it aims to add encryption in the future.

Bluetooth communications come with an identifier called a MAC address, which could also be used to track down protest ringleaders. "They can be singled out for arrest or questioning, their social network can be looked at to try to find the people who have the capability to disrupt whatever is going on," says Steven Murdoch of the University of Cambridge. "Giving good security in mesh networks is still an area of research."


http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn26285-hong-kong-protesters-use-a-mesh-network-to-organise.html

[dembotoz]

2. WOW