If you haven’t heard of FireChat, you will. FireChat is an app that’s available for iOS and Android that allows groups of people to chat to each other completely “off the grid” It doesn’t rely on the cellular network or WiFi. The app creates a mesh network via Bluetooth with users of the app that are within range of each other. Messages can then be sent over that network and nobody can stop it. Not the cops, not cellular companies, not ISPs. If a user has access to the Internet, that connection can be shared with the rest of the mesh network. Just think about how powerful that is. A group of people could use FireChat to organize themselves and nobody outside that group would be aware. That’s not such a far fetched idea. It’s happening right now. The democracy protests in Hong Kong are a great example of this. The word on the street is that after the authorities blocked access to Instagram, the protesters moved to FireChat and have been using it ever since. You can bet that someone in the Communist Party is staying up late trying to figure out how to shut down FireChat as you read this.
Expect to see FireChat at a protest or revolution near you.
FireChat Allows Groups To Communicate “Off The Grid”
Posted in Commentary with tags Apps on October 2, 2014 by itnerdIf you haven’t heard of FireChat, you will. FireChat is an app that’s available for iOS and Android that allows groups of people to chat to each other completely “off the grid” It doesn’t rely on the cellular network or WiFi. The app creates a mesh network via Bluetooth with users of the app that are within range of each other. Messages can then be sent over that network and nobody can stop it. Not the cops, not cellular companies, not ISPs. If a user has access to the Internet, that connection can be shared with the rest of the mesh network. Just think about how powerful that is. A group of people could use FireChat to organize themselves and nobody outside that group would be aware. That’s not such a far fetched idea. It’s happening right now. The democracy protests in Hong Kong are a great example of this. The word on the street is that after the authorities blocked access to Instagram, the protesters moved to FireChat and have been using it ever since. You can bet that someone in the Communist Party is staying up late trying to figure out how to shut down FireChat as you read this.
Expect to see FireChat at a protest or revolution near you.
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