This blockchain-based messaging app provides real data protection
Opinions expressed by Contractor the contributors are their own.
You are reading Entrepreneur Asia Pacific, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media.
Wispr is a messenger app that uses blockchain technology to provide a fully decentralized messaging service. One of the core missions is to tackle a common problem that ordinary people face with these kinds of apps: the privacy dilemma.
Give out
Is your personal data safe when using popular messaging apps? What are the risks that individuals and businesses face when using WhatsApp, Telegram or other services that claim to provide users with peer-to-peer and encrypted messaging?
Today’s privacy issues with messaging apps
The rapid development of new technologies directly affects the way people communicate on a daily basis. We are more connected than ever, and social media and messaging apps play an important role in today’s interconnected lifestyle. But while most apps from the big tech players, such as WhatsApp and Telegram, use end-to-end encryption, they are not trusted platforms that guarantee privacy for users.
We’ve already seen well-known tech companies cause a stir due to their lack of transparency regarding their users’ data use for profit. A famous example is Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook, which allegedly sold sensitive user data to Cambridge Analytica throughout the 2010s. It’s a useful refresher to say that META owns Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger and much more.
Messaging apps must comply with privacy regulations, including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). This law came into force in May 2018 to protect the data and privacy of countries within Europe and the European Economic Area. That year, the Data Protection Authority started an investigation into WhatsApp which ended with a fine of 225 million euros on the messaging app.
Wispr: A blockchain-based Messenger app taking over the market
Wispr stands out from the competition thanks to blockchain technology, which provides a censorship-resistant and completely transparent messaging app where all forms of communication – messages, calls, video conferences, file transfers – are encrypted. This is thanks to an innovative mechanism called VOBP (Voice Over Blockchain Protocol), a security system that leverages industry standard protocols to improve user security.
Wispr was launched by software startup CryptoDATA in collaboration with Patentpool Group, a company with over 20 years of experience in financing innovation-focused startups.
“With Wispr, three things electrified us: the ambition to become the European market leader, absolute data security, and the goal to finally introduce working digital payment services, for which there is still no satisfactory solution in Europe,” said Dr Heiner Pollert, CEO and founder by Patentpool Group.
Wispr uses the latest encryption protocols, including AES – 256, so that no third party can access your messages or eavesdrop on your voice notes. Not even Wispr can read or hear your messages and calls. Technically, VOBP is a system that generates private keys that are exchanged between users when they start a conversation and destroyed at the end of each session.
Wispr is available for Android and iOS devices. Once installed, the app can convert the user’s phone number into a code and give them a Matrix ID, allowing them to connect with their partners while remaining anonymous. This is especially useful since platforms like WhatsApp are linked to your phone number, which scammers can send messages to or hack your second SIM card to access backed up conversations. On other platforms like Telegram, users can hide their phone numbers, but their username is always public, which poses a similar risk (it doesn’t use end-to-end encryption either).
The next step in Wispr’s roadmap is to become Europe’s leading digital payment service, similar to WeChat Pay, a payment tool from the Chinese social media app WeChat.
Besides Wispr, CryptoDATA also offers a series of blockchain-based devices built with encryption protocols, such as smartphones, routers and encrypted laptops.
Note: Investing in cryptocurrency and cryptoassets is subject to financial risk and readers should do their own due diligence. Entreprenør Media does not support such investments.
