In an increasingly intrusive digital age, anything & everything that is put up Online is vulnerable to being read by people other than the intended users. This makes privacy of paramount importance for individuals who are passing sensitive or personal information through the Internet.
The explosion of communication tools in the past few years, many of which are free has led to a massive erosion of privacy. The ‘Wire’ team messaging application is heaven sent for those who wish to have a secure line of communications. The most evident yet subtle form of compromising of personal data is for advertisers. Many applications collect data in order to “improve user experience” but may also be used for building a profile of the user. This profile is built & updated based on the information that has been entered into a platform. This information is then used by advertisers to send targeted advertisements. While this seems harmless to some, for those who wish to keep certain information private like medical history may find themselves feeling vulnerable.
The revenue model for Wire is through premium membership. One of the existing problems with some of the “free” messaging platforms is that they do not generate revenue from the users, so instead, they sell personal information to advertisers who then use that information for other purposes.
Privacy is an inherent characteristic of Wire with nothing more than an e-mail address required for activation. No other personal information like phone numbers or contact sharing is asked. As the company is based in the European Union, the company is governed by E.U. privacy laws which are the strongest in the world. This ensures that there are minimal government interference & maximum protection of privacy.
A unique feature of the application is the auditing that is done by an independent agency. Kudelski Security & X41 D-Sec have published a joint review lauding the state-of-the-art technology & approach being used for the messaging platform. Though security audits haven’t become a convention for messaging platforms, Wire has shown remarkable foresight by pioneering this practice.
Wire ensures that there is a minimum conflict between privacy & user experience. However, there are a few teething issues. It uses VoIP style notifications as they are used natively & allow for end to end encryption. Unfortunately, these are not as hardy as standard push notifications. This presents a few irritants such as reduced battery life & transmission failures. Wire has bridged the gap well though by providing various contingencies if any of these issues are faced.
Wire team messaging seems like 1of the better platforms out there for individuals who like to keep their information private & would like to stay off the grid from marketers. It works as a vanguard against those who are vulnerable to hacking. It puts great emphasis on privacy with protection to a diversity of data types such as voice, video, pictures, file sharing, etc. It even has timed messages that self-destruct on command. It outperforms all its competitors when it is judged on various parameters related to privacy. With audio engineers from Skype working on the development of wire, one can rest assured that the audio quality has not been compromised for the sake of privacy.
– This is a startup profile based on publicly available material & not a review –
Image Credit: Wire
Don’t leave without reading this…
… we seek a favor. Online advertising revenues are falling, especially for media Sites. Also, as you may have realized, unlike many media & publishing organizations, we haven’t put up a paywall – we firmly believe that information, including our content must be accessible by all across the globe. But content takes a time & money to produce. If you’ve read the above piece & liked it, we urge you to contribute in our support.
