The main way people add contacts on Wickr is by entering a friend's email or phone number which is hashed locally and then checked against a database of hashed

The main way people add contacts on Wickr is by entering a friend's email or phone number which is hashed locally and then checked against a database of hashed identifiers. An intel agency could presumably build a rainbow table by trying every known phone/email, and then they can track meta-data and interactions. Many of their investors, advisors, and C-level execs seem to be part of the revolving door Valley-D.C. culture. I doubt they're expecting to accomplish anything radical. Nico's probably most honest when she says their goal is to be the number one messaging app and that privacy is currently fashionable. I don't doubt they offer at least improved privacy over e.g. Facebook, especially considering their Terms of Use conditions. But I think they are pretty plainly selling the image of privacy instead of actually useful/innovative tools.