Voice and video calls on the BChat Web3 messenger happen peer to peer and are end-to end encrypted. Let’s see what this means for you.
As children, we’ve all felt the joy of talking through cans and taut strings. It’s amazing what two paper cups and a stretched out string can do. And there’s something special to it. When you speak through the paper cup, you hope that only the person on the other side can hear what you say.
We believe that this aspect of privacy and secrecy in conversation is necessary for everyone. Our most intimate and cherished moments aren’t broadcasted but are conversations that are shared only with the people we love.
Calls have a long history. From electricity to radio wave frequency, that is, from wired to wireless, and now from unprotected to encrypted calls, we’ve come a long way.
Today, the most happening place for secure calls are private encrypted messengers.
Normally, messages are encrypted and onion routed over the Beldex decentralized network. This happens through a network of relay nodes (masternodes) on Beldex. There are over 1100 masternodes that help relay your messages.
What are Peer to Peer Calls?
Peer to peer calls are possible with the BChat Web3 messenger. Peer to peer calls directly connect you, the caller, with the recipient. This means that a bunch of intermediaries used in traditional and centralized voice calling and video conferencing are removed.
P2P calls help you remain anonymous to an extent. BChat’s P2P calling feature masks your identity. However, since calls on BChat are not yet onion routed, the recipient will still be able to see your IP address.
An advanced version of anonymous calls, which will use the BelNet onion router, is under research. This will provide voice and video calls on BChat with extensive privacy protection.
Why should you make P2P Calls?
If you’re using a software like Google meet or Zoom, your calls are encrypted but you wouldn’t have the full metadata protection that peer to peer calls offer.
This is because with Google, Zoom, Skype or any other closed-source, centralized video conferencing platform,
1) Your data is collected by their systems: though the calls themselves are encrypted, they still know that you (user A) called your friend (user B).
2) You might be using an email or phone number to make the call. This is visible to Google and its affiliated third parties.
3) They can collect metadata such as the time, duration, caller ID, and other sensitive information.
Metadata don’t explicitly reveal what you’re talking about but they can be used to create your digital profile that is used to map out who you are affiliated with and how frequently you contact them.
Consider that you’re using WhatsApp to make an encrypted call. Based on the recipient information, the time, frequency and duration of the call, one may be able to ascertain whether you’re calling your boss at work or ordering food for lunch.
End to End Encrypted Calls
Encryption on BChat P2P calls is through WebRTC, an extension of the Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). All WebRTC calls, including ones made via BChat, are encrypted using SRTP-DTLS encryption. SRTP is nothing but Secure Real-time Transport Protocol and DTLS refers to Datagram Transport Layer Security.
In fact, all encrypted calls today use the SRTP-DTLS standard. BChat ensures that your calls are made P2P, free of intermediaries.
Why encrypt calls?
What you share with your friends and family should only be your business. Others shouldn’t be able to eavesdrop or overheard on your personal conversations.
Businesses especially do not want their trade deals and secrets to be shared with their competitors or third parties before they are announced.
P2P calls also prevent Governments from spying on you. On the other hand, they provide Governments with a secure channel to transmit sensitive information.
Simply put, with encryption, there’s greater security and privacy.
How to make private encrypted calls on BChat?
It’s easy to make P2P calls on BChat. Here’s an example that shows a call between Louis and his friend Alice.
But before you initiate a call, you should enable the voice and video call permission.
Here, Alice calls Louis without enabling the permissions. She receives a prompt as shown in the image below.
You can find the option to enable voice and video calls in the ‘Settings’ menu under the ‘Privacy’ option.
Now go back to the individual chat screen and tap the call option at the top right.
All calls are voice calls by default. You can enable or disable video on call using the video 📹 icon. You can also mute or unmute the microphone and speaker using the 🎙️and 🔊 options respectively.
Decentralized BChat IDs for Calls
While applications like Signal provide you with similar grade encryption, they still rely on a centralized system.
Phone numbers are optional on Signal, but they’re necessary to find your contacts. Thus, most people consent to provide their phone numbers.
On BChat, you can make calls using a decentralized identity that’s only available on-chain and cannot be used to link back to your real-world identity.
Yes, you can make calls with just your BChat ID. There essentially is no other identity that can be associated with your calls.
BChat presents you with high bandwidth, low latency, lag-free voice and video calls.
Voice and video calls on BChat are available on all platforms (Android, iOS, Desktop — Windows, Mac, and Linux).
Is that all?
No.
Group calls are coming.
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