Briar: Peer-to-Peer Encrypted Messaging • Hacker News Board

Re: Briar: Peer-to-Peer Encrypted Messaging

#141

Post by auditor_3d » Tue, Nov 22, 2022, 8:08 PM UTC

GTP wrote: post #96

californiadreem wrote: post #18

My wife and I use Briar for household communication because of subsidiarity rather than any direct privacy concerns. Out of all the messenger projects that we've tried, Briar actually works for local communication. It's actually instant messaging without any client hiccups or latency (looking at you, Signal). We've tried a ton of other options, but we keep ending up back at Briar. There are points of UX friction in t…

> we both have email hosting in Europe If this is for privacy reasons, I have to point it out that the GDPR protects the data of people that are physically in the EU. I'm not a lawyer, but I'm not sure this applies to non-EU citizens that just happen to deposit some of their data in the EU without being physically here. Maybe you should delve in this corner case deeper, or if you did, I'm curious to know the answer.

He probably uses protonmail

Re: Briar: Peer-to-Peer Encrypted Messaging

#142

Post by splintercell » Wed, Nov 23, 2022, 12:49 AM UTC

goodpoint wrote: post #68

zikduruqe wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Check out https://berty.tech for direct off network communications when you do not have internet.

It uses only BLE. What's the point when Briar is a better alternative?

Does Briar work on iOS?

Re: Briar: Peer-to-Peer Encrypted Messaging

#143

Post by ziggypieman » Wed, Nov 23, 2022, 6:52 AM UTC

californiadreem wrote: post #18

My wife and I use Briar for household communication because of subsidiarity rather than any direct privacy concerns. Out of all the messenger projects that we've tried, Briar actually works for local communication. It's actually instant messaging without any client hiccups or latency (looking at you, Signal). We've tried a ton of other options, but we keep ending up back at Briar. There are points of UX friction in t…

I'd like to hear more how you use forums/blogs for managing household projects.

> we both have email hosting in Europe while we live in the US, so neither of us, being frugal in principal, wants to send information to Europe and back in order to tell the person 100 ft away to come help bring in the groceries.

I like the frugality in principle. However, AFAICT, Briar uses Tor onion services, Bluetooth or WiFi to communicate. Does using Tor onion services for out-the-home IM violate the principle?

Re: Briar: Peer-to-Peer Encrypted Messaging

#144

Post by sebkur » Wed, Nov 23, 2022, 11:59 AM UTC

Ptchd wrote: post #132

giphyman wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They are working on a mailbox app to offload the constant background tor processes which use a lot of the battery life: https://code.briarproject.org/briar/briar-mailbox

Great to hear that they are working on this issue. Who will host the mailbox though?

you'll actually need to host it yourself. It's going to be a one-to-one relationship between mailboxes and briar users on purpose to avoid centralization of any kind (think techies hosting mailboxes for many friends etc.). To make hosting rather easy, the mailbox can be run on a spare (old) Android device, ideally plugged into a power outlet and connected to Wifi. Setup will include installing the app onto the Android and going through a pairing procedure by scanning a QR-code from the mailbox app from the briar settings screen.

Re: Briar: Peer-to-Peer Encrypted Messaging

#145

Post by iFreilicht » Thu, Nov 24, 2022, 3:08 PM UTC

splintercell wrote: post #142

goodpoint wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It uses only BLE. What's the point when Briar is a better alternative?

Does Briar work on iOS?

No, only Android and any Android-derivative that can run .apk files. For more convenient installation, it's available on Google Play and F-Droid.