Do P2P Messaging apps that don't require the internet exist?
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Yes, this is totally what I was thinking of!
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Briar has a mesh mode.
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Yes, it's possible. To be honest, I find it very sad that we have grown so dependent on ISP and big telecom companies to have a working network.
In theory, you could have an infrastructure in your neighborhood and be able to play Quake with your neighbors without making use of the phone line at all, and with a very efficient connection too! you'd just need cabling connecting the apartments/houses. It's a pity that's not a standard thing when designing residences.
You can technically do it with Wifi and mesh networking though... there are projects like B.A.T.M.A.N, see https://www.open-mesh.org/
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I think SimpleX is mesh?
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Depending on how far you're willing to push the definition of "messaging" you could look into getting your ham radio license.
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Surprised nobody mentioned scuttlebutt yet https://scuttlebutt.nz/
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SSB can use the internet to share encrypted messages via hubs/servers, but it also can share the same messages peer to peer in a mesh sort of setup without the internet using a 'gossip' protocol within a local network. It was invented by a sailor who was regularly away from WiFi due to being at sea.
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This was a common thing that was developed for the international protests after Arab Spring, which would frequently have their Internet shut down as a State tactic to prevent communication amongst protestors.
Mesh net chat apps like FireChat were born in response
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Woah Briar is really cool. I think this is like what I want Signal to be.
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yggmail is a fairly obscure and experimental take on email on a mesh network:
https://github.com/neilalexander/yggmail -
Yeah to be honest I don't even know how telegram became so popular in the "privacy-oriented world"
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It's the thing on iPhones right?
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I found Berty yesterday just after making this post. But as a neophyte in cryptography and everything, how am I supposed to know which one is better for my privacy ? (e.g. between Briar and Berty) Because right now the only thing that I have is what the apps are "telling" me so... Yeah I don't know how to chose.
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pictochat FTW
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Thanks I'll take a look!
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Yea but there are android versions too. Its to send files over WiFi direct phone to phone with no network but some also have chat.
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Oh interesting! I'll take a look into it thanks.
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You can encrypt a radio.
Yes, but that requires you and the one(s) you're communicating with to mod some radios and then to keep those radios secret, which won't be easy once you start using them, especially in a situation like that where the government would probably be scanning those frequencies for exactly that
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positive-intentions is a decentralised P2P chat app. https://positive-intentions.com/
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Don't need to modify them. Use my method above
Just have extra phones you don't connect to the internet with and install the apps via loading .apk files. You can even use old phones in a dusty shelf somewhere.
Do not transmit from your house, travel to somewhere without cameras transmit your messages, then leave. Avoid using motor vehicles, ride a bike. There are ham radios that are small enough to fit in your pocket. You can get a longer antenna to transmit further.
When you return, wipe the phones. You should have the .apk files stored in an microsd card and create a encrypted volume with a hidden partition, put tax documents in the normal partition, put the .apk files in the hidden partition. Label this volume "Tax [Year]-[Year]" Hide the microsd card somewhere, bur avoid putting it like under a floor board, that'd be too suspicious. Put them in your underwhere or something like that. Its not unusual to encrypt tax documents or hide them. You have plaudible deniability. And your radios are all just normal radios. (Don't save the frequencies in your radio lol)
You should probably also get a Ham radio license as a cover, preferrably you should already have a ham radio license years in advance, before you start to do encrypted transmissions. Get a bunch of radios and have them on display in your home. Don't hide the fact that you have radios Hiding in plainsight is the best way to hide. Make normal, unencrypted communications frequently, just have normal chats with people. (This is assuming your country don't just ban radios outright)
You have to schedule the transmission/receiving times in advance, so your contacts can prepare for it. Choose a random frequency that no one else is using.
Then once a while, you travel to a random location, the further away from your house, the better. You send short bursts of encrypted transmisions. Keep transmissions under 2 minutes.
If they search your home, all they see is a radio enthusiast with a bunch of regular non-modified radios and some old phones in the drawers.
This is best if there are a lot of ham radio people around your area.
There are more than 750,000 people in the US with a license in ham radios, they can't arrest everyone.
