Hacker News new | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submit login

Hi! The app looks great. Can you speak a bit more about the interaction? How would two people who just downloaded Felony send an encrypted message to each other?



Here's how it works...

1. Add public keys to your buddies list— A public key is like a username - Adding someone’s public key to your buddies list lets you send them messages. You can find other public keys on markets like keybase.io and darknet.

2. Encrypt a message— Select a recipient from your buddies list and compose a message. Only your chosen recipient(s) can read the message. Encrypted messages might contain sensitive information, such as an address, document, or anything intended to be read only by intended recipients.

3. Send the encrypted message anywhere— You can send the encrypted message on any website! For example, facebook messenger, twitter direct message, or youtube. Felony is security when and where you want it.


1. Why did you choose PGP, when we have OTR and Axolotl -- which are specifically designed for informal communication where repudiation (recipient Y not being able to prove to others that X sent the original message) matters.

2. How are the public keys securely distributed? You say that "a public key is like a username", but without a central authority you hit a lot of issues (essentially the CAP tradeoff, but for user IDs). And with a central authority, you have no trustworthiness. Or are the users just meant to find public keys themselves (in which case you're back to the current state of affairs).

3. The name choice is stupid. Why on earth would anyone sane in this political climate call an encryption program "Felony"?


As for #3 I would think that it makes fun of the idea that encryption is somehow a crime. That's how I read it at least.


I get the joke, it's just not funny. And literally nobody outside of our community would get the joke.




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: