Here’s a set of new apps that should make any celebrity or politician jump for joy. The folks at BitTorrent have released Bleep, a secure, end-to-end encrypted communications app that’s available for free for Mac, Windows, iOS and Android.
The fun begins when you set up Bleep. There’s no signup process, so nothing is stored on a server anywhere letting the authorities or hackers know that you’re using the service. To send text or images, you have two options: Whisper and Messages. Whispers send your texts or photos directly to the recipient, nicely encrypted and never even getting near a server where they can be intercepted. Once your recipient reads a Whisper, it’s gone for good. Messages are a bit more permanent, stored locally on your device for future reference. Even Whispers can be bypassed if you take a screenshot of what you see on the screen, but let’s hope that the people using Bleep have a bit more sense than to do that…
There’s one more great Bleep feature: you can also make voice calls with the same incredible encryption in place. If you’re paranoid about someone snooping on your personal phone calls, Bleep can set your mind at ease by scrambling your voice, then connecting to your friends or business associates via a peer-to-peer setup. The video below shows just how it all works.
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