BitTorrent Wants To Bleep Your Private Messages

cio today ^ | 5-13-2015 | Jef Cozza

[Citizen Zed]

Keeping private messages private may have just gotten a bit easier thanks to BitTorrent’s new messaging service. Known as Bleep, BitTorrent first announced the service last year, when it released alpha versions of its software . Yesterday, the company officially released versions for Android, iOS, Windows, and OS X.

Bleep is hoping to distinguish itself from other messaging services such as Whatsapp, iMessage, and the Facebook app, by offering users better privacy and more control over their data . The service will allow users to sign up using only nicknames if they don't want the company to have access to their personal details.

No Cloud Server To Hack.

Bleep is also marketing itself as a more secure alternative to the other messaging services, something users may find particularly attractive following the high-profile hack of several celebrities’ personal iCloud accounts last year. BitTorrent said that kind of attack is not possible with Bleep’s architecture.

“In our implementation, we keep messages and the encryption keys for images stored on your local device, not the cloud ,” the company said in a blog post announcing the launch of the service. “For messages and metadata, there is no server for hackers to target and because you hold the keys, images can’t be leaked to haunt you later. We’ve solved serverless peer-to-peer messaging, including the ability to get offline friends your messages when they come back online.”

Despite the fact that Bleep will not store users’ private information, they will still be able to invite friends to the service using the contact details stored on their devices. Users can also invite friends to connect by scanning QC codes, known as Bleep keys.

[Citizen Zed]

As long as the NSA or any other hacker has access to your device's keyboard and screen, nothing is secure.