6 ms·

Is it legit? I heard it had been heavily pushed by Russian media…

by dash2 5y ago

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
dgellow 5y ago
Are you asking if the app is legit (i.e trustworthy and not a honey-pot) or are you asking if the information it has been removed is legit? I cannot answer the first one, but the second question seem to be legit: the store page returns a not found https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.briarproject.briar.android&hl=en_US&gl=US https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.briarproje...
- vertis 5y ago
  It's open source[0] so possible to audit. So yes it's legit. [0]: https://github.com/briar/briar https://github.com/briar/briar (mirror)
  - toomanybeersies 5y ago
    There's been plenty of cases where an app/package/extension has publicly available source code which differs from what's actually distributed. However, I do see they have a section in their README regarding reproducible builds for verifying APKs against their source code.
blendergeek 5y ago
Do you have a source for this?
- czechdeveloper 5y ago
  It's been pushed by WikiLeaks on Twitter to be used by Ukrainians. Due to some people believing that WikiLeaks has been hijacked by Russia, they do not trust the app. https://twitter.com/wikileaks/status/1497314070738911236 https://twitter.com/wikileaks/status/1497314070738911236
  - ajross 5y ago
    I don't know that "hijack" is the right term here. Skepticism is very warranted. Whatever you think about Wikileaks' mission, their independence, transparency, etc... they have absolutely been used as an asset by Russian intelligence in the past. I think looking very suspiciously at anything they have to say about a conflict involving Russia is just normal prudence. So much so, in fact, that I've actually seen the contra-conspiracy asserted: Russia made Assange/Wikileaks push this app precisely to drive Ukranians users away from it and into the arms of something else to which they presumably have more visibility.
    - czechdeveloper 5y ago
      I wanted to word it neutrally and while I'm not sure about Assange, whoever is behind WikiLeaks Twitter account for sure seems like Russian asset.
  - m-p-3 5y ago
    I've been usimg the app for several years before Wikileaks tweeted about it, it's not like it came out of nowhere. And the app is open-source, you can even compile it yourself.
- hans_castorp 5y ago
  Briar is also available on F-Droid which is a pretty good indication that it's "true" open source and doesn't contain any "spy code" (which doesn't rule out the possibility that unwanted code can somehow be loaded after installing it)

Is it legit? I heard it had been heavily pushed by Russian media…

by dash2 5y ago

Is it legit? I heard it had been heavily pushed by Russian media…

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

dgellow 5y ago

Are you asking if the app is legit (i.e trustworthy and not a honey-pot) or are you asking if the information it has been removed is legit? I cannot answer the first one, but the second question seem to be legit: the store page returns a not found https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.briarproject.briar.android&hl=en_US&gl=US https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.briarproje...

vertis 5y ago
It's open source[0] so possible to audit. So yes it's legit. [0]: https://github.com/briar/briar https://github.com/briar/briar (mirror)
- toomanybeersies 5y ago
  There's been plenty of cases where an app/package/extension has publicly available source code which differs from what's actually distributed. However, I do see they have a section in their README regarding reproducible builds for verifying APKs against their source code.

blendergeek 5y ago

Do you have a source for this?

czechdeveloper 5y ago
It's been pushed by WikiLeaks on Twitter to be used by Ukrainians. Due to some people believing that WikiLeaks has been hijacked by Russia, they do not trust the app. https://twitter.com/wikileaks/status/1497314070738911236 https://twitter.com/wikileaks/status/1497314070738911236
- ajross 5y ago
  I don't know that "hijack" is the right term here. Skepticism is very warranted. Whatever you think about Wikileaks' mission, their independence, transparency, etc... they have absolutely been used as an asset by Russian intelligence in the past. I think looking very suspiciously at anything they have to say about a conflict involving Russia is just normal prudence. So much so, in fact, that I've actually seen the contra-conspiracy asserted: Russia made Assange/Wikileaks push this app precisely to drive Ukranians users away from it and into the arms of something else to which they presumably have more visibility.
  - czechdeveloper 5y ago
    I wanted to word it neutrally and while I'm not sure about Assange, whoever is behind WikiLeaks Twitter account for sure seems like Russian asset.
- m-p-3 5y ago
  I've been usimg the app for several years before Wikileaks tweeted about it, it's not like it came out of nowhere. And the app is open-source, you can even compile it yourself.
hans_castorp 5y ago
Briar is also available on F-Droid which is a pretty good indication that it's "true" open source and doesn't contain any "spy code" (which doesn't rule out the possibility that unwanted code can somehow be loaded after installing it)