Privacy-focused messenger keeps your secrets

SOCIETY2 has released Secrets, a privacy-focused messenger app for private or group chat, the first step on a path toward a fully-fledged decentralized social media experience. This groundbreaking product runs in the browser, without the need to install a separate browser extension or mobile app and allows users to send encrypted messages over an open, feeless and scalable distributed ledger, IOTA’s Tangle.

The technology used to drive Secrets provides a new experience where the user owns their digital identity, which is stored on their personal device. This enables a permissionless communication channel between individuals choosing to participate in a format that is an evolutionary extension of cryptocurrencies, a decentralized medium for communication rather than finance. It also means that SOCIETY2 is not able to harvest and commercialize personal information from those using the platform.

At a time of increasing awareness around privacy and censorship issues on traditional social media, SOCIETY2 brings a fresh approach to online communication. Problems with existing social networks include siloed data, where a user has little opportunity to port their identity between platforms, lack of privacy highlighted by recent hacks, and the use of personal data to profit from your identity and content, often with no opportunity to share in the value it creates.

Dominik Schiener (Co-Founder, IOTA), says that consumers should think carefully about what they are prepared to give up if they continue using mainstream online services.

“Ask yourself what you’re willing to give up to share political posts and memes on Facebook. Are you willing to let Google follow you around, both online and off, for search results that are marginally better than its competitors? Do you know that item is cheaper on Amazon, or did you just give up comparison shopping altogether? Informed consumers can, and should, be looking for alternatives to mainstream services.” Schiener says.

Secrets is the first product release from SOCIETY2, with work continuing on future iterations of the framework which will bring feature and media rich experiences. The framework being developed will enable other businesses interested in building social media apps to utilize an open-source codebase to quickly develop a solution, growing the ecosystem.

The team formed at the height of the coronavirus pandemic, with contributing members gathering online and finding their shared interest in solving the problems with traditional social media in an environment where online communication soared due to the backdrop of lockdowns and increased remote work. Geographically distributed, the SOCIETY2 team resides across the United States, Germany, Namibia and Australia. Only two of the team members knew each other before establishing the project, with introductions and formalities taking place over ad hoc online chat sessions, video and voice calls.

Ben Royce (CEO, SOCIETY2), says that Secrets will demonstrate a robust communication platform which will be expanded on with future development.

“Secrets demonstrates a robust, private, secure, anonymous engine for powering the new decentralized social media future. IOTA serves as the trust negotiation layer for private and group chats. This is just the first step, watch us as we extend our little engine to deliver a framework upon which an ecosystem of social media forms can blossom. Genuine privacy, micropayments, true ownership of your social media content and identity, and an inversion of power where you choose the moderation standards that suit you. Join us!” Royce says.

Markus Kuhlmann (CTO, SOCIETY2), says that he is excited by opportunities created using the cutting edge technology which underpins the Secrets messenger.

“My journey with distributed ledger technology began in 2018 when I first heard about IOTA. It's permissionless and feeless transactions kept me following and working on associated projects, ultimately leading me to co-found SOCIETY2 with a great team. Today we are launching a fully functional progressive web app making use of a myriad of tools, languages and techniques to send private, permissionless messages. We have only just begun, there will be more challenges to overcome, but I am excited about pushing the limits of decentralized technologies.” Kuhlmann says.

Secrets provides:

• Identity created and stored locally on your device (no account / registration)
• Create private (1:1) and group (many:many) chats
• Encrypted messages viewable only by the intended recipient(s)
• In browser experience on any device, avoiding the need to download an app
• A first step on the path to a media-rich decentralized social media experience

For more information about Secrets, visit the website here.

–ENDS–