Company promises ‘there is no server for hackers to target’ messages and metadata, but app is entering a crowded market

BitTorrent is the latest company to launch a messaging app, with its Bleep service emerging from alpha testing with a new iOS app joining the existing Android and desktop versions.

Originally launched in July 2014, Bleep is a peer-to-peer chat client drawing on BitTorrent’s existing technology, with an emphasis on privacy that aims to capitalise on wider awareness of online surveillance from government agencies.

“Bleep’s logo represents a folded note – a message passed directly, hand-to-hand. In our implementation, we keep messages and the encryption keys for images stored on your local device, not the cloud,” explained BitTorrent in its latest blog post.

“For messages and metadata, there is no server for hackers to target and because you hold the keys, images can’t be leaked to haunt you later. We’ve solved serverless peer-to-peer messaging, including the ability to get offline friends your messages when they come back online.”

Bleep certainly isn’t alone in its ambitions to make messaging more secure. Startups including Wickr, Telegram, Zendo, CryptoCat, Surespot and Open Whisper Systems (with TextSecure) are all active in this space.

Meanwhile, secure communications firm Silent Circle’s Silent Text is part of its wider suite of apps, while WhatsApp teamed up with TextSecure to add end-to-end encryption to its app in 2014.

Arguably, the latter had the biggest potential impact, given that WhatsApp now has more than 600 million active users, although Apple’s iMessage, Google’s Hangouts and Facebook’s other messaging app Facebook Messenger’s security features have all been scrutinised publicly.

In November 2014, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) rated 39 apps on their security, publishing a secure messaging scorecard outlining its findings.

Only eight – ChatSecure + Orbot, CryptoCat, Off-The-Record Messaging for Windows, Signal / RedPhone, Silent Phone, Silent Text, Telegram and TextSecure – scored the maximum seven ticks in the study.

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BitTorrent’s app includes a new Snapchat-style feature to make messages and photos disappear from recipients’ devices after they have been viewed, including a feature to block out the nicknames or conversation if people try to take screenshots.

“Since our open alpha release last September, a lot has happened in the private messaging space. Services have come and gone, some have been breached and patched, and in many cases, users have been left feeling violated, or at the very least, changed what they say or do online,” claimed BitTorrent in its blog post.

“We’ve been listening. Listening to our community’s feedback as well as the dialogue that has been taking place around privacy, data-collection, and the social cost of technology bringing us closer together.

“We’ve decided that one of those costs should not be your identity. And by identity, we don’t just mean your personal details, but also what you choose to say and how you say it.”