Briar: A Tor-Based Messenger for Secure Communication
In July of last year, the first announcement was made about Briar—a messenger app that operates using the Tor network. Until last week, the app was only available in beta, but over the past year, it has shown significant potential and attracted a lot of interest, which led to its public release.
Briar is an encrypted peer-to-peer (P2P) messaging service that uses the Tor network to send and receive messages. You can download it here from the Google Play Store. Currently, it is still not available for iOS or desktop, but the developers are considering expanding to other operating systems in the future.
When Briar’s beta version was first released, many saw it as a huge win for people who need a secure way to communicate. On its website, Briar describes itself as an app designed for anyone—including activists and journalists—who needs a safe, simple, and effective way to communicate. The release of this app provides peace of mind for many people concerned about government surveillance of their online conversations. Now, there is another secure alternative available.
Advantages of Briar
In recent years, the messenger market has grown rapidly. As a direct result, the demand for private messengers has also increased significantly. Of course, there are apps like Telegram and Wickr, but when it comes to those that use Tor, Briar arrived just in time.
There are other well-established secure messaging services besides Briar, such as Bitmessage, which is essentially similar to Briar. Bitmessage is also a decentralized P2P communication service where the government cannot access your messages. Unlike Briar, Bitmessage is only available for download on Windows, OS X, and Linux.
Additionally, Bitmessage is not as user-friendly as Briar. While Briar feels like a standard messenger, Bitmessage is reminiscent of the early, clunky email services from the dawn of the internet. Bitmessage has also had some vulnerabilities discovered, with the most recent one found just a few months ago.
The main audience for private messengers often overlaps with darknet users. Everyone wants to keep their data safe, and Briar’s mission is to provide reliable protection for its users’ data. Amid the hype around messengers and their security failures (such as Signal or Facebook Messenger), Briar stands out as a solid and interesting option. It may be the first worthy alternative to Telegram.
The Facebook Scandal
The Facebook-Cambridge Analytica scandal affected more than 87 million Facebook users, whose personal information was sold and used in various ways. Facebook made weak promises to keep user data safe, but it’s now clear that this was never their true goal.
Facebook and Briar are on opposite ends of the privacy spectrum. Following the scandal, there was a noticeable surge in demand for private messengers. Right after the incident, downloads of Telegram, WickrMe, and Signal increased, and Briar’s official release came at just the right time.
We wish the best of luck to the developers and users of this interesting product that operates through the Tor network.