Communication is one of the fundamentals that relationships, societes, and economies around the world have been built on and continue to revolve around. As technology continues to evolve, new and better ways to communicate get developed. From word-of-mouth and letters to calls, emails, SMS, and messenger apps, there seems to always be a more advanced way to communicate.
Since the world is so interconnected today, new technologies, such as messenger apps, spread like wildfire.While apps like WhatsApp or Telegram have only been around for a couple of years, they have already become an integral part of everyday life.
However, as significant parts of our everyday lives depend on communication facilitated via these messenger services, questions about privacy and concerns become louder.
The state of messengers in 2022
Most businesses and individuals alike use messenger apps on a daily basis. From intimate relationship details to top secret corporate data - there's hardly a limit for what people are willing to share via WhatsApp and co.
Granted, most popular messenger apps are now using some form of encryption. In most cases, modern communication apps use the highly secure peer-to-peer (P2P), or end-to-end encryptions, such as PGP ("pretty good privacy"). Nevertheless, P2P doesn't solve every security issue.
The vast majority of big tech messengers still falls short of guaranteeing privacy. Several of these applications have already received very big fines in the past because they aren't adhering to privacy regulations, such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). In fact, the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) commenced an investigation into WhatsApp back in December 2018, and the outcome of this investigation was bad news for WhatsApp. In September 2021, the DPC imposed a fine of €225 million (around $265 million at the time) on WhatsApp.
Additionally, cybersecurity experts have raised several other complaints concerning the platform. Since WhatsApp accounts are always bound to a phone number, fraudsters regularly attempt to imitate users identity in order to obtain a person's second SIM card from their telecommunications provider. If they succeed, they immediately gain access to all of the user's backed up conversations - which is of course a huge security risk.
On the other hand, the world's second biggest messenger app, Telegram, does not even use end-to-end encryption by default - despite the fact that it is marketed as a highly secure application. The app does however allow signups without a phone number binding, which makes it less prone to identity theft attacks.
The need for better solutions
CryptoDATA, a software startup, has developed a new blockchain messenger app called Wispr, and partnered up with the Patentpool Group in an effort to make it the next big messenger app in the West. "[At] Patentpool, we have been accelerating innovations in a wide range of future-oriented industries for 25 years. We look at about 3,000 ideas and projects per year - and only participate in a few," said Dr. Heiner Pollert, CEO of the Patentpool Group.
"With Wispr, three things electrified us: The ambition to become the European market leader, absolute data security, and the goal of finally introducing functioning digital payment services, for which there is still no satisfactory solution in Europe," Pollert added.
This blockchain-powered messenger app provides a platform for encrypted messaging, file transfers, and calls. Further, Wispr enables video conferencing that secures and encrypts all communication, and the company is planning to become one of the first providers of micropayments in Europe.
The new privacy-tech paradigm
All communications over Wispr are encrypted and protected by Voice Over Blockchain Protocols (VOBP) technology, making every interaction and exchange completely private. Consequently, not even Wispr itself can listen to calls, read messages, or compromise the integrity of file transfers.
Additionally, the latest encryption and security tools that the CryptoDATA engineers developed ensure that no conversation can be recorded.
In the next step, Wispr will expand itself to become one of Europe's first providers of micro-payments, which will be the next step for messenger apps in the Western World.
With the Munich-based Patentpool Group recently joining the project as an anchor investor, Wispr is looking to become one of the leading messenger apps. "We are excited about the investment by Patentpool - not only as an early-stage investor, but also as a company builder providing strategic and content input. Patentpool has more than two decades of experience in innovation funding and will make a significant contribution in making our technology a success," said Ovidiu Toma, CEO of Wispr.
* This is a contributed article and this content does not necessarily represent the views of techtimes.com
