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Proposal for the HN community: Tor Chat Web App

17 points by cpursley 13y ago

HN, in light of the NSA news, we need a Groupme-style anonymous chat web app based on the Tor project or similar. I know of this, https://github.com/prof7bit/TorChat but there's no mac client and a web app seems more logical in terms of remaining anonymous (installed software could raise a red-flag if your device is confiscated). Are there any existing chat apps that can be modified to be routed thorugh the TOR network without the user having to set up TOR? Who's in and where should we start?

patmcguire 13y ago
Have you seen W.A.S.T.E.? http://sourceforge.net/projects/waste&#x2F http://sourceforge.net/projects/waste/ Has chat and file sharing, friends at Rose Hulman used it a lot. Might be a good starting point.
- cpursley 13y ago
  Bad link, sounds interesting.
  - aeontech 13y ago
    HN is auto-encoding trailing slash in links right now, not sure why.
patmcguire 13y ago
Errr http://sourceforge.net/projects/waste&#x2F http://sourceforge.net/projects/waste/
QUFB 13y ago
Why not connect to your favorite public XMPP server[1] over Tor and use OTR? Also, see Cryptocat[2] extensions for popular browsers. [1] http://xmpp.net http://xmpp.net [2] https://crypto.cat https://crypto.cat
- cpursley 13y ago
  Thanks!
lifeguard 13y ago
https://jitsi.org https://jitsi.org Secure video calls, conferencing, chat, desktop sharing, file transfer, support for your favorite OS, and IM network + Tor ?
- aclevernickname 13y ago
  Jitsi would be fantastic if it didn't use twice the memory of Skype under linux. it's (slightly) less bloated under MacOS and Win7, but still an enormous Java app. I've never been able to make Jingle/XMPP work right in Jitsi over localhost:9050, but this might be PEBKAC.
aeontech 13y ago
There is also Secure Internet Live Conferencing [http://silcnet.org http://silcnet.org] protocol, server and client that's been under development for quite a while. Here's their crypto FAQ: http://silcnet.org/support/faq/crypto http://silcnet.org/support/faq/crypto
- tptacek 13y ago
  SILC isn't anonymous.
  - aclevernickname 13y ago
    Which is why SILC over Tor hidden services is such a wonderful thing. I suggest hitting the Hidden Wiki for server addresses.

17 points by cpursley 13y ago

patmcguire 13y ago

Have you seen W.A.S.T.E.? http://sourceforge.net/projects/waste&#x2F http://sourceforge.net/projects/waste/ Has chat and file sharing, friends at Rose Hulman used it a lot. Might be a good starting point.

cpursley 13y ago
Bad link, sounds interesting.
- aeontech 13y ago
  HN is auto-encoding trailing slash in links right now, not sure why.

patmcguire 13y ago

Errr http://sourceforge.net/projects/waste&#x2F http://sourceforge.net/projects/waste/

QUFB 13y ago

Why not connect to your favorite public XMPP server[1] over Tor and use OTR? Also, see Cryptocat[2] extensions for popular browsers. [1] http://xmpp.net http://xmpp.net [2] https://crypto.cat https://crypto.cat

cpursley 13y ago
Thanks!

lifeguard 13y ago

https://jitsi.org https://jitsi.org Secure video calls, conferencing, chat, desktop sharing, file transfer, support for your favorite OS, and IM network + Tor ?

aclevernickname 13y ago
Jitsi would be fantastic if it didn't use twice the memory of Skype under linux. it's (slightly) less bloated under MacOS and Win7, but still an enormous Java app. I've never been able to make Jingle/XMPP work right in Jitsi over localhost:9050, but this might be PEBKAC.

aeontech 13y ago

There is also Secure Internet Live Conferencing [http://silcnet.org http://silcnet.org] protocol, server and client that's been under development for quite a while. Here's their crypto FAQ: http://silcnet.org/support/faq/crypto http://silcnet.org/support/faq/crypto

tptacek 13y ago
SILC isn't anonymous.
- aclevernickname 13y ago
  Which is why SILC over Tor hidden services is such a wonderful thing. I suggest hitting the Hidden Wiki for server addresses.