FireChat

This article is about the app. For the widget, see Firebase#Firechat.
Firechat
Developer(s) Open Garden
Platform Android, iOS
Type Online chat
License Proprietary
Website opengarden.com

FireChat is a proprietary mobile app, developed by Open Garden, which uses wireless mesh networking to enable smartphones to connect via Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, or Apple’s Multipeer Connectivity Framework without an internet connection by connecting peer-to-peer.[1]

Though it was not designed with the purpose in mind, FireChat has been used as a communication tool in some civil protests.

History

The app was first introduced in March 2014 for iPhones,[2] followed on April 3 by a version for Android devices.[3]

In July 2015, FireChat introduced private messaging. Until then, it had only been possible to post messages to public chatrooms.[4]

Usage

FireChat first became popular in 2014 in Iraq following government restrictions on internet use,[5][6] and thereafter during the Hong Kong protests.[7][8] In 2015, FireChat was also promoted by protesters during the 2015 Ecuadorian protests.[9] On September 11, 2015, during the pro-independence demonstration called Free Way to the Catalan Republic, FireChat was used 131,000 times.[10]

In January 2016, students protested at the University of Hyderabad, India, following the suicide of a PhD student named Rohith Vemula.[11] Some students were reported to have used Firechat after the university shut down its Wi-Fi.[12]

Security

In June 2014, Firechat's developers told Wired that "[p]eople need to understand that this is not a tool to communicate anything that would put them in a harmful situation if it were to be discovered by somebody who's hostile ... It was not meant for secure or private communications."[13]

As of July 2015, FireChat claims to use end-to-end encryption to protect its one-to-one private messages.[4]

See also

Mesh network applications

References

  1. ↑ Milian, Mark. "Russians Are Organizing Against Putin Using FireChat Messaging App". Bloomberg. Bloomberg. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
  2. ↑ Simonite, Tom (28 March 2014). "FireChat Could Be the First in a Wave of Mesh Networking Apps". MIT Technology Review. Retrieved 29 June 2014.
  3. ↑ Yu, Alan (7 April 2014). "How one app might be a step toward internet everywhere". NPR. Retrieved 29 June 2014.
  4. 1 2 "FireChat launches new offline private messaging option". BBC News. BBC. 30 July 2015. Retrieved 28 January 2016.
  5. ↑ Kuchler, Hannah; Kerr, Simon (22 June 2014). "‘Private internet’ FireChat app grows in popularity in Iraq". Financial Times. Retrieved 29 June 2014.
  6. ↑ Hern, Alex. "Firechat updates as 40,000 Iraqis download 'mesh' chat app in censored Baghdad". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 June 2014.
  7. ↑ "Faced with network surveillance, Hong Kong student demonstrators go P2P". Boingboing.net. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
  8. ↑ Bland, Archie (29 September 2014). "FireChat – the messaging app that’s powering the Hong Kong protests". The Guardian.
  9. ↑ Velazco, Alfredo. "The Internet, a Staging Post for Protests in Ecuador, is Under Threat". Global Voices Online. Retrieved 28 June 2015.
  10. ↑ Borràs, Enric (17 September 2015). "L'aplicació amb què et podies comunicar a la Via Lliure també et servirà en una catàstrofe". Ara. Retrieved 17 September 2015.
  11. ↑ "Hyderabad university shut after protests over Dalit student's death". BBC News. BBC. 19 January 2016. Retrieved 28 January 2016.
  12. ↑ TNN (23 January 2016). "Firechat comes to UOH students' rescue". The Times of India (The Times Group). Retrieved 27 January 2016.
  13. ↑ Baraniuk, Chris (25 June 2014). "FireChat warns Iraqis that messaging app won't protect privacy". Wired. Condé Nast. Retrieved 28 January 2016.

External links


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