4 ms·

What's with Wickr? I never heard of it until yesterday, when a message out of the blue on Reddit asked me why am I not using it (with the excuse that I said I d

What's with Wickr? I never heard of it until yesterday, when a message out of the blue on Reddit asked me why am I not using it (with the excuse that I said I didn't like it, which is false), and now this poster with no comment history. Probably confirmation bias so I'll bite. It's not open source, collects some data, it's a for-profit company. Why would I use it?

sorenjan 6y ago
The only time I've seen it used has been by people looking to buy drugs. It's so closely related that a single "wickr?" post on social media is basically synonymous with drug deals.
- ShockedUnicorn 6y ago
  This post is actually the first time I've heard about wickr online. I have seen it spray painted everywhere in my city tho, something like: "wickr: randomusername HQ 420"
EtiusPrime 6y ago
well, there are some reasons for [1][2], it also was on HN before too [3]. I came up to it as i was looking for an alternate which is free, real end-to-end encryption (not just to the server) and doesn't need your or any phone number to create an account. There is a payed Version (obviously for professional occasions) and also a Desktop Version. So all in all a great Package. I suppose it makes money through it payed Version. (havn't checked that, just assume it) It promisses not to steal data and says its not possible by design.[4] [1] https://www.militarytimes.com/flashpoints/2020/01/23/deployed-82nd-airborne-unit-told-to-use-these-encrypted-messaging-apps-on-government-cellphones/#.XinQapgtOkY.twitter https://www.militarytimes.com/flashpoints/2020/01/23/deploye... [2]https://www.securemessagingapps.com/ https://www.securemessagingapps.com/ [3]https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22129436 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22129436 [4]https://medium.com/cryptoblog/the-untrusted-server-19aff573ca7c https://medium.com/cryptoblog/the-untrusted-server-19aff573c...

sorenjan 6y ago

The only time I've seen it used has been by people looking to buy drugs. It's so closely related that a single "wickr?" post on social media is basically synonymous with drug deals.

ShockedUnicorn 6y ago
This post is actually the first time I've heard about wickr online. I have seen it spray painted everywhere in my city tho, something like: "wickr: randomusername HQ 420"

EtiusPrime 6y ago

well, there are some reasons for [1][2], it also was on HN before too [3]. I came up to it as i was looking for an alternate which is free, real end-to-end encryption (not just to the server) and doesn't need your or any phone number to create an account. There is a payed Version (obviously for professional occasions) and also a Desktop Version. So all in all a great Package. I suppose it makes money through it payed Version. (havn't checked that, just assume it) It promisses not to steal data and says its not possible by design.[4] [1] https://www.militarytimes.com/flashpoints/2020/01/23/deployed-82nd-airborne-unit-told-to-use-these-encrypted-messaging-apps-on-government-cellphones/#.XinQapgtOkY.twitter https://www.militarytimes.com/flashpoints/2020/01/23/deploye... [2]https://www.securemessagingapps.com/ https://www.securemessagingapps.com/ [3]https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22129436 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22129436 [4]https://medium.com/cryptoblog/the-untrusted-server-19aff573ca7c https://medium.com/cryptoblog/the-untrusted-server-19aff573c...