Something you probably don't know
Most people assume SimpleX is just another messaging app. It is a different kind of network: no phone number, no username, not even a random ID. Nothing ties your conversations to you, so there is nothing to track, sell or leak. That matters for your security, your privacy and your future online.
Plainly: I'm not getting paid for any of this. Nothing. I'm an investor; I decided this is a company that needs to push its concept forward. I'm not paid by Wefunder or by SimpleX. I don't even get a sticker. Full disclosure below.
Why it matters
I think the web needs reinventing. We built an internet where the product is you: your identity, your contacts, your habits, sold and resold. And every messenger you use starts the same way. It asks who you are. A phone number. A username. An email address. That is the leak. Once a system is tied to your name, it can be breached, tracked, or switched off, and you were never really in charge of it.
SimpleX has no user IDs at all. Nothing to sell, because there is nothing to harvest.
My work is about making life simpler and putting people back in control. Seth Godin taught us permission marketing: you earn the right to talk to people. Somewhere along the way we gave that permission away to every company that asked for an address, and now they decide when I hear from them and what I get to use. I want to communicate the way I choose, not the way a platform's database allows.
A lot of what goes wrong in security and in customer communication traces back to systems built around our names and usernames. SimpleX starts from the other end: no identity to steal or sell, so nothing to lock you in. It is one of the few projects actually trying to rebuild the foundation instead of painting over it, and I think this is how companies will build an entirely new web.
So consider this a nudge. Look at what they're doing. Read the thesis. Ask the uncomfortable question about who owns your conversations. I think it deserves a serious look.
What it is
SimpleX is the first messaging platform with no user identifiers of any kind: no phone number, no username, not even a random ID. No one, including the servers carrying the messages, can see who is talking to whom.
Nothing tied to your name, so nothing to breach, sell or hold hostage.
Open source, with its security audited by Trail of Bits.
Free on iPhone, Android and desktop. Your profile lives on your device only.
How to join
Scan from the SimpleX app on your phone. On a computer, open this page on your phone, or share it from your phone to your computer.
The official user guide covers the rest.
How to support
SimpleX is raising money from its community. If this appeals to you, I encourage you to look at the investment round and read it for yourself.
See the SimpleX round on Wefunder
Disclosure: I'm an investor in SimpleX through Wefunder, and I'm an advocate. I'm not a money expert. I just know this is a product we need. I don't work for SimpleX. I'm not paid by SimpleX or Wefunder, and I get nothing from either. Not even stickers. I'm a believer. This is not investment advice or an offer to sell securities. SimpleX is raising money through a Regulation Crowdfunding offering on Wefunder; its terms are only on Wefunder. Investing in early-stage companies is risky. You can lose all of your money, and nothing here promises or guarantees a return. Read the offering and its risk disclosures on Wefunder before you decide.
Read and watch
Scan with the SimpleX Chat app. The QR code works on your phone. To use it on a computer, share this page from your phone to the computer.
SimpleX is a private messenger with no user identifiers: no phone number, no username, nothing that ties the account to you. Free, on phone and desktop; we both need the app.
More information: all about SimpleX and why it matters
White paper by SimpleX's founder, Evgeny Poberezkin
Disclosure: I'm an investor in SimpleX through Wefunder, and I'm not paid by the company in any way. Fuller disclosure on my SimpleX page.
Brad E. Bailey