Peer-to-peer service BitTorrent is responding to the demand for encrypted chatting and is building a cloud-free chat service. The alpha can now be tested.
BitTorrent is experimenting with a new encrypted chat service. The company that became famous for its peer-to-peer download protocol is aiming with BitTorrent Chat at the growing need for a secure form of chat. The product is still in a closed alpha version, for which testers must sign up with an email address.
Already this year, more than 6 million people have been affected by data breaches. The right to your own online conversations is not yet a given. The aim is therefore to deliver a private, secure and free chat application without a central server. Users can contribute feedback, ideas and solutions.
BitTorrent is not yet revealing the underlying technology. It does confirm, however, that there are many similarities with BitTorrent Sync. With that P2P sync tool, which is also still in development, files can be split up and encrypted, and synchronized between different PCs and devices. BitTorrent Sync is already a bit further along, and is available as a beta and Android app.