this post was submitted on 29 Aug 2024
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First time hearing about Briar. So it's like Signal but can also be used via Bluetooth if close enough?
Also, messages travel trough Tor, so you get P2P and identity. The coolest IM.
The hardest too, because you should only add contacts verified face to face. (Technically you can add remote contacts but they'll be marked as not fully trusted.)
How does it work through Bluetooth if messages go over Tor? Is Bluetooth purely used for contact discovery?
Bluetooth is used as a fallback for creating local offline mesh functionality in case of a full internet shutdown. It will also keep working between devices in the same local wlan, even when the internet connection to the wlan router is cut off.
The idea is to get maximum censorship resistance to the degree where you can still get information flow in case of a full government/military shutdown. You can even sync chats over external storage devices like usb drives or sd cards. All using the same level of encryption as usual ofcourse. Tor is just used because the internet is inherently non anonymous and leaks your identity and location without it.
When you create group chats, for example for a big protest movement, then every device that joins the group will act as a entry and exit node meaning you can mesh together many people with varying degrees of internet access. Below the diagram from their website to give you an idea.
Ah that’s pretty cool, thanks for explaining
That, and also it’s decentralized and sends all messages through the tor network if Bluetooth isn’t available
Sort of. Briar can do private messaging. However, Briar also supports Blogs and Forms. The neat part is that it is totally decentralized with traffic going over Bluetooth, WiFi and Tor. It is designed to communication in situations where an advanced adversary is targeting a group. It can be used a protests and such.
The downside with Briar is that it requires that something is online always. You can setup a old phone as a mailbox but it is still inconvenient.