Snap Interactive Announces Blockchain-Based Video Messaging Service

Following the announcement that it has launched a multipoint strategy to embrace blockchain technology, Snap Interactive has announced the first new product of the initiative: a video-enabled secure messaging system.

Called Backchannel, the service enables real-time text, voice, and video messaging between both individuals and groups. It will leverage blockchain and other decentralization technologies to offer unique security benefits, furthering SNAP’s mission to provide global communication platforms with an emphasis on privacy.

Backchannel will adopt the end-to-end and forward secrecy encryption best practices currently used by communication apps like Telegram and WhatsApp. It will also authenticate users with a crypto identity that requires no personally identifiable information. With no link to the real-world identity of its users, Backchannel can never be subject to legal demands for disclosure and no personal data can ever be stolen by hackers.

That’s enough to pique the interest of privacy-minded consumers, but SNAP promises even more. Backchannel will decentralize the transmission of all communications within its network so no messages ever pass through Backchannel servers, further fortifying the service against censorship, disruption and eavesdropping.

Alex Harrington, SNAP's Chief Executive Officer, released the following comments in a statement:

"We believe Backchannel will be the first secure video messaging app in which users need not rely on a trusted centralized intermediary. The companies that host competitive secure messaging apps on some level know who you are, to whom what you are speaking, and, in some cases, your interests and the context of your conversations. If they have that information in any form, it can be hacked, stolen or disclosure can be forced. Backchannel has been designed to be completely decentralized and 'trustless,' meaning that you don't need to trust an intermediary to keep this information safe because the communication system is built to have no intermediary, keep no personal information, and most importantly, no central point of failure. No centralized communication app would be able to match that level of security."

Backchannel will initially be introduced with a crypto identity layer and launched as a freemium app, leveraging a private blockchain for the free service and the public blockchain for premium service. The service will accept payment in cryptocurrency to make it a completely secure offering from start to finish.

Later on, SNAP plans to add streaming and messaging decentralization to the blockchain-based app initiative. While no exact dates have been set for Backchannel to debut, SNAP Chief Technology Officer Eric Sackowitz says expect to see the beta launch of phase one in the back half of 2018.