The more we read « news » that chronicle the extraordinary feats of the mobile application FireChat, the more we wonder if all this is a simple buzz operation (and maybe more) orchestrated by who knows who. It’s too big, it recycles in a shaker too many shady things to make it a natural buzz.
Certainly, one is accustomed to seeing many media re-write an AFP news, remixing it with so-called technical explanations make Bozzo the clown look for a sinister character. Except that this buzz is too good to be natural.
Fearless, media from around the world do not have enough words to praise an application which enables people communicate « without a network » (lol) « without Internet » … but who still demands to create an account when installing the app… How the hell do I do that, without the Internet? … Uh, Mr. Firechat why would you need me to create an account to let my phone communicate with my neighbor’s phone using a peer to peer technology?
In the best case, Firechat is a shell company whose success is an accident. At worst, people, not OpenGarden, has an obvious interest in other people using this application.
I just created the firechat « Crowdfunding ». Join me at http://t.co/mrPGvEzvDk
- Diana (dfyconsulting) October 2, 2014
We will now leave for your consideration the potential impact this URL -highlighted by @9B22EB34 and which shows on the OpenGarden website, posts (in real time with the user’s identity) – on the Firechat’s users privacy, especially in conflict areas where this app seems to have so much been popularized.
No need to connect to Firechat to monitor users, or even identify them.
A careful reading of this paper is essential to a proper understanding of the risks protesters, activists, who recklessly use this application are bearing.
