* Multiple layers of encryption, in-flight and at-rest :shield:
* Compatible with Tor (i2p support in progress) :dark_sunglasses:
* Emoji Support :poop:
## What is HushChat Protocol ?
@ -39,7 +38,7 @@ That being said, HushChat is being developed soley on HUSH mainnet. Other crypto
## Is HushChat a fork of Signal?
No. We do not use code directly from Signal, but the ideas from the protocol and ideas/concepts from the GUI interface.
For instance, Signal Protocol has a concept of "ratcheting" and so do HushChat.
For instance, Signal Protocol has a concept of "ratcheting" and so does HushChat. Ratcheting is implemented via <ahref="https://libsodium.org">libsodium</a> secretstreams.
## Why not just use Signal?
@ -49,7 +48,7 @@ Signal requires phone numbers and is a centralized service. HushChat is complete
Glad you asked!
* Monero family coins have no encrypted data storage at the protocol level!
* Monero (CryptoNote Protocol) family coins have no encrypted data storage at the protocol level!
* Zcash Protocol coins have encrypted data at the protocol level via the memo field
* This means that Monero family coins are inherently inferior to build an encrypted chat system upon
* The encryption must be added at a higher level and really stands out, you know which transactions are chats
@ -59,20 +58,17 @@ Glad you asked!
z2z transaction or not. This is caused ["plausible deniability"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plausible_deniability) and also there is no way to know *how many*
people are being communicated with, another kind of plausible deniability.
* CCX and LOKI have none of the above properties, their systems are centralized and have very little privacy, if any.
* Additionally, Conceal and LOKI have no censorship-prevention and are not protected by Bitcoin Hashrate Security via [Delayed-Proof-of-Work](https://git.hush.is/hush/mastering_dpow/src/branch/main/README.md)
* CCX and LOKI are off-chain only, while HushChat can be either on-chain or off-chain.
* CCX + LOKI use Javascript/web tech extensively and HushChat avoids that stuff like a disease
## What kind of interfaces will there be to HushChat?
In order of development:
In order of (likely) development:
* Lite mode desktop ([SDL](https://git.hush.is/hush/SilentDragonLite/releases) )
* Android Mobile ([SDA](https://git.hush.is/hush/SilentDragonAndroid/releases) )
* Full mode desktop ([SD](https://git.hush.is/hush/SilentDragon/releases) )
* iOS Mobile
* Android Mobile ([SDA](https://git.hush.is/hush/SilentDragonAndroid/releases) )
The Lite mode desktop version is released in beta and our Android mobile version is in active development.
The Lite mode desktop version is released.
## What is HushList?
@ -96,7 +92,7 @@ with access controls, such as needing to be on a certain VPN with a special user
Ultimately, to prove to others that something happened or to easily communicate with others, a public blockchain will be the primary use case. It also provides a meeting place for users to come together and then spin up their own Just-In-Time specific-use-case blockchains.
Additionally, if somebody is trying to say false things about you, selectively disclosing data that proves your innocence
can be very valuable. HushChat enables this use case, which Signal cannot possibly implement. Because Hush is backed up by Bitcoin hashrate security, the data cannot be censored or modified once it is notarized.
can be very valuable. HushChat enables this use case.
## Are you rolling your own crypto like stupid people?
@ -128,12 +124,19 @@ Glad you asked!! HushChat adds various layers of privacy on top of our "base" Hu
* This means if your device is seized/liberated/stolen and your wallet.dat inserted in ChainAnalysis or similar blockchain analysis platform, your chats are encrypted blobs of useless information
* HushChats cannot be truncated, removed, reordered, duplicated or modified without being detected
* There are very strong encryption/decryption guarantees provided by libsodium secretstreams: https://doc.libsodium.org/secret-key_cryptography/secretstream
* HushChat, when used from a lite wallet, uses a randomly selected different server upon startup
* Unlike Zcash lite wallet, which have a hardcoded single centralized lite server, Hush wallets have many community run servers
* It's very bad for privacy for all users to talk to a single lite wallet, that means the lite wallet operator knows their IP addresses and transaction id's of ALL USERS
* In Hush, a new random server is selected when the wallet starts, and no one lite server operator has access to all the data, only a slice of it
HushChat is not vulnerable to the above vulnerability because there are no delivery receipts in HushChat protocol. When Alice sends a message to Bob, she has no idea if or when it's ever delivered to Bob's wallet or if he reads it. This is a feature, not a bug.
Signal is also increasingly trying to be a (https://signal.org/blog/introducing-stories/)["social media app"] and encouraging people to leak metadata and promising them it will be deleted forever. Haven't we heard that before? Hush considers this a bug (possibly an attack) and not a feature.
