WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:13.000 All right, take two. All right, let's again welcome Mattias to the stage. He's a project manager of 00:13.000 --> 00:17.760 Qual and a developer of open source censorship circumvention tools. He's giving an introduction to 00:17.760 --> 00:23.000 Qual, which is a privacy focused P2P mesh communication app that enables off-the-grid messaging via 00:23.000 --> 00:30.000 the BLE, LAN, and internet overlays. All right, how may I welcome him? 00:30.000 --> 00:55.680 Thank you. What a world. Climate crisis, wars, the world is falling apart. When we have such 00:55.760 --> 01:00.760 big problems, do we really need to worry about even more platforms and forms of networking? 01:00.760 --> 01:05.840 It seems as if our achievements in digital communication have only made the problems more 01:05.840 --> 01:12.800 manifold. Today we struggle with uncertainties and fears. For the things, we gave that gave 01:12.800 --> 01:19.600 us stability, our planet, the world, alliances between states, the values we share, the order 01:19.640 --> 01:26.920 we know and in which we recognize ourselves. We are experiencing a shift in power relations 01:26.920 --> 01:32.080 and heteromonic context and we find ourselves in the situation between the effects of power 01:32.080 --> 01:38.960 and our own powerlessness. A disintegration is looming, extending to networks which are becoming 01:38.960 --> 01:45.520 less and less intercontinental in scope and increasingly fragmented, leading to a Chinese 01:45.520 --> 01:54.000 Russian US-American network. What does this make with us? Within a formation, we appear 01:54.000 --> 02:00.000 a subject to subjects and are only empowered through our application. In Fuku's power 02:00.000 --> 02:09.280 analytic sense, we can therefore understand forms of participation as a subjectification. On 02:09.360 --> 02:16.160 the one hand, the question arises as to how we bring ourselves into play. On the other hand, 02:16.160 --> 02:22.320 there is a suspicion that not everything can be found in this formation and even more so 02:22.320 --> 02:28.240 that this formation itself produces exclusions, at least as an experience of contingency. 02:29.440 --> 02:36.080 The use of software and hardware is a form of such a subjectification. This subjectification 02:36.160 --> 02:41.360 often goes unnoticed as many seem to be completely satisfied with their presence in the form 02:41.360 --> 02:48.080 of accounts and user profiles. Others are rightly concerned about this subjectification, 02:48.080 --> 02:54.160 mistrusting precisely those systems that inscribed themselves so dominantly in communication 02:54.160 --> 02:59.760 and possibilities for action. They even inscribed themselves in our presence and existence. 03:00.320 --> 03:06.960 The dystopia and oppression, the fear, the delusion that powers are at work here. Of course, 03:06.960 --> 03:11.680 all these emotions have their basis in this very subjectification which can never be fully 03:11.680 --> 03:18.080 understood or discarded. When dealing with communication networks and their effects, we engage 03:18.080 --> 03:25.040 in a biological structure. We oscillate between our own statement limited by the option of 03:25.040 --> 03:31.040 expression of the specific system on one hand and our objections to the systemic conditions and 03:31.040 --> 03:37.600 constraints on the other. This experience is becoming particularly important in the struggle 03:37.600 --> 03:44.320 of self-determination and maturity. Of course, it is important which platform we choose to improve 03:44.320 --> 03:51.440 privacy and to improve control over our own data. However, the experience of subjectification 03:51.440 --> 03:59.440 is fundamental. It gives us the context that in return we must be able to also shape these systems. 03:59.440 --> 04:07.200 This co-creation is a characteristic of a participatory social order. It is what we mean 04:08.000 --> 04:17.120 by democratic, by value-based and by civil society. The relevance of this power to act and these 04:17.120 --> 04:24.080 options for shaping the system often remain unseen. There seems to be an overwhelming force 04:24.080 --> 04:29.280 that shapes our own positions in such a way that our identity in the assigned position of 04:29.280 --> 04:34.560 economic conditions, cultural affiliation, nation-chanted class appears overpowering. 04:35.760 --> 04:40.960 But in a crisis, this breaks down at the moment when these certainties and identities 04:40.960 --> 04:46.720 these contextualizations and self-assurances towards these systems disappear. In a situation 04:46.800 --> 04:53.120 of immediate threat thrown back on an existence on a formation that pushes one's own self-image, 04:53.120 --> 05:00.000 one's own conventions of perception and representation, one's own power to shape and act to a limit. 05:01.040 --> 05:07.200 Call arose from such context of experience. In 2011, people poured into tachyus, 05:07.200 --> 05:11.920 to wear and cryo-eachypt. It was a situation that called for stepping out of those 05:11.920 --> 05:18.480 subjectivities and demanding participation and recognition. And while a democratization movement 05:18.480 --> 05:23.840 was forming in tachyus' to wear, the government shut down the internet and mobile communications. 05:24.560 --> 05:29.600 Call was born out of these experiences, only in our formations can defund the mental aspects 05:29.600 --> 05:35.360 of structures of subjectifications, the assigned forms of options for action and creative forces 05:35.360 --> 05:41.760 be understood and addressed. We do not become aware of subjectifications let alone escape it 05:41.760 --> 05:46.720 when we are stuck in our social media accounts. Nor do we escape this objectification 05:46.720 --> 05:53.040 in supposed activity from a spectator position behind the screen. Clicking and thinking you are connected 05:53.840 --> 06:00.000 is a great and treasureous illusion of online activism. Call is not activism. The experience 06:00.000 --> 06:07.600 of tachyus' wear is relevant in a different way, digital platforms, which like to refer to themselves 06:07.680 --> 06:13.840 as agoras or forums like the old democratic formations, the places of democracy, they are not 06:13.840 --> 06:20.880 designed for appropriation or empowerment by the users. In contrast to these self-styled platforms, 06:21.520 --> 06:28.160 which often obscures the connections and dependencies we use call to examine our own possibilities 06:28.160 --> 06:33.920 for action and our own options for design and expression based on the materials available to us, 06:34.480 --> 06:42.800 our own devices. It is about understanding how our own means of expression are constituted, 06:42.800 --> 06:49.520 how we ourselves can create our own connections, how we can take control over our own devices in our hands. 06:50.400 --> 06:56.960 Using this smartphone in my hand, in such a way as to create a network and connect myself with 06:56.960 --> 07:03.200 other people in a network. In a classical network, we are dependent from an infrastructure. 07:03.280 --> 07:08.800 This is a cellphone antenna in Sudan. The antenna is camouflaged as a palm tree, a quiet 07:08.800 --> 07:15.360 common camouflage for antennas in the region. In such a classical network, the device is connected 07:15.360 --> 07:23.040 to the antenna, the antenna to the ISB gateway and so on. And alternative structure would be a fully 07:23.040 --> 07:28.960 mesh network in which each device is directly interconnected with all other nearby devices. We've 07:28.960 --> 07:35.200 called which created the first of the gross platform Wi-Fi messenger, but not only could you 07:35.200 --> 07:40.400 communicate with the mesh network. The app to build this network was also shareable from user 07:40.400 --> 07:45.600 to user, new users were able to download the app directly from the call network itself. We 07:45.600 --> 07:50.000 called it viral sharing a concept that was picked up quickly by other applications in the field. 07:50.880 --> 07:56.880 This was our first technical setup. From the routing part, we used the OLS error routing protocol, 07:56.880 --> 08:03.200 the system routed directly into the system's routing tables, which created a perfectly 08:03.200 --> 08:09.440 routable TCP IP network. This made a lot of functionalities possible. When someone had 08:09.440 --> 08:13.920 internet, it could be easily shared with all other users in the network. With activists from 08:13.920 --> 08:19.600 gaze-part movement, we developed an autonomous device. The stations were usable for text messages, 08:19.600 --> 08:24.880 voice jets, and file sharing. The gaze-part edition allows links to the internet and other networks. 08:24.880 --> 08:31.920 Information can be exchanged even time-delayed. Many networks were set up used for communication, 08:31.920 --> 08:38.880 spontaneous mobile networks on migration routes, self-built infrastructure in Romani settlements, 08:38.880 --> 08:43.920 antennas in direction of the Tahir Square, and also really large antennas setups. 08:45.920 --> 08:52.960 However, the system also had some downsides. To write routing tables, we needed administrative 08:52.960 --> 09:01.120 access on devices, something we are deprived of on mobile platforms. The Wi-Fi standard we used, 09:01.120 --> 09:06.720 the Zoukalk Wi-Fi Huffk Mode, became unusable on most devices and platforms. We therefore 09:06.720 --> 09:13.680 rewrote the app from scratch in 2019 to create a mobile first application with abstracts the entire 09:13.680 --> 09:19.360 network layer away and the routes based on cryptographic identities. 09:20.320 --> 09:26.800 Our goal was the same. A mobile first tier configuration peer to peer messenger with a state 09:26.800 --> 09:32.720 of the RT user interface. Only using technologies that are available to the user 09:32.720 --> 09:37.360 unrestricted mobile platforms. We have three different communication possibilities, 09:37.360 --> 09:42.640 Bluetooth low energy, which is still experimental, local area network communication mode, 09:42.640 --> 09:46.000 and statically linked nodes for internet overlay connections. 09:46.720 --> 09:52.080 Over which every mode you are interconnected, all devices are meshed together. We wrote 09:52.080 --> 09:55.920 our own distance vector based routing protocol to make this happen. 09:58.560 --> 10:04.560 Call is zero config. The onboarding process is really simple. You choose your language 10:05.600 --> 10:13.200 and your username and your set up to go. Call has a user discovery. All users in the network 10:13.200 --> 10:20.480 will automatically appear in your contact list. To make your interconnectivity visible, 10:21.360 --> 10:28.400 we created a network view where you can see how you are interconnected. This connectivity 10:28.400 --> 10:33.360 awareness feature is really important to help users understand the connectedness and the state 10:33.360 --> 10:38.720 of the local network. Every connection in between two nodes is transporting cryptid. 10:39.440 --> 10:45.120 And we have an end-to-end encrypted messaging system. Over which you can chat, send files, 10:45.120 --> 10:50.320 photos, videos, and voice messages. We also have fully encrypted chat groups. 10:51.600 --> 10:57.120 A special feature in call is a public message channel. These messages are unencrypted. They are 10:57.120 --> 11:02.000 cryptographically signed by the sender. The messages are forwarded to everyone in the network 11:02.000 --> 11:08.480 and partially synchronized between devices. In addition to that, we have a 11:08.560 --> 11:13.520 delayed tolerant message routing. If somebody is not present in the network, we can still write 11:13.520 --> 11:19.840 them a message. The message is then sent in a store and forward style, either to a predefined 11:19.840 --> 11:25.360 user for storage and later delivery or to the user with the closest social proximity. 11:28.240 --> 11:34.080 Call is available on all five major platforms. On Linux and AppStores, Android Store, we also have 11:34.080 --> 11:39.760 an additional signed binary to download and share directly Windows, Mac OS, and iOS. 11:40.320 --> 11:50.880 There is also a demon for headless devices and a CLI binary. So, let's quickly try a live 11:50.960 --> 12:02.960 DMotion. 12:06.240 --> 12:10.880 So, okay. 12:10.880 --> 12:24.320 When you open for the first time, the call app, it automatically 12:24.320 --> 12:29.520 selects the language of your device. 12:29.520 --> 12:36.080 You can change to many other languages if you like. 12:36.080 --> 12:44.480 And then to create a user profile, you just type in a user name, whatever user name 12:44.480 --> 12:53.880 you like, okay, and you're good to go. 12:53.880 --> 13:00.640 So, and what now happened is that cryptographic identity was created for you in the 13:00.640 --> 13:05.720 background and the routing protocol started. 13:05.720 --> 13:12.240 And when you are in a network and there are already devices present, then the public 13:12.240 --> 13:18.360 messages partially the last messages are shared with you. 13:18.360 --> 13:22.640 You are now in the public messenger that's what was coming in. 13:22.640 --> 13:31.400 You also have a contact list in which you see all the users that you ever got a message 13:31.400 --> 13:36.000 from or that are currently present. 13:36.000 --> 13:44.160 So, these users, they have a profile page, you have the public key, and you have the identity 13:44.160 --> 13:46.720 which is the hash of the public key. 13:46.720 --> 13:50.640 You can verify a user, this needs to be done off the grid. 13:50.640 --> 13:56.280 You get a security number, it's the same system that also signal used, and then you can 13:56.280 --> 14:01.360 check on the other device, if it's the same security number, because the security number 14:01.360 --> 14:06.200 are always in between two devices, and if it's the same, you can manually trust it and 14:06.200 --> 14:11.920 you get a little batch. 14:11.920 --> 14:19.760 Of course, you can also send them messages. 14:19.760 --> 14:28.080 So now this was sent, we see we have two blue check marks, this means this message has 14:28.080 --> 14:34.240 been sent and was delivered. 14:35.120 --> 14:40.360 While we did that, we did one round trip, and we basically made the defy helmet to 14:40.360 --> 14:49.880 cut from to static key that we can use for encryption, but already the first message 14:49.880 --> 14:53.320 is encrypted in the system. 14:53.320 --> 15:10.280 So, over this channel, we can exchange text messages, but we can also, for 15:10.280 --> 15:27.360 example, send multimedia data, photos, so, yeah, okay, yeah, and we should also be 15:27.360 --> 15:43.560 seeing the network, okay, it's not too big, we are only here in the room. 15:43.560 --> 15:46.200 This is the program structure currently of call. 15:46.200 --> 15:53.440 So we have a lip call written in Rust, we have three different network connections, for 15:53.440 --> 15:58.760 two of the network connections we use Rustly peer-to-peer, we have a parallel quick and 15:58.760 --> 16:10.480 TCP stack, yeah, basically all the important features are in this Rust lip call, and 16:10.480 --> 16:20.120 before the UI we have a flutter, which gives us the same UI on all platforms. 16:20.120 --> 16:26.640 As designed and inspired to enable individuals and community communities to establish networks 16:26.640 --> 16:34.240 and build structures, it tells us so much about the systems of power and control and surveillance, 16:34.240 --> 16:40.080 which we can now understand and specific forms of sub-selectification, and which we can counter 16:40.080 --> 16:45.880 with our own formations, our own forms of networking and communication. 16:45.880 --> 16:46.880 Thank you. 16:50.120 --> 16:58.280 All right, we have about five minutes here for questions, so questions everyone, I'll 16:58.280 --> 17:04.200 see you on right here, and then I'll see you on how I'll get to you after it. 17:04.200 --> 17:16.720 Thank you, what do you do now, like, is it using the same technology as BChat, and if 17:16.800 --> 17:21.040 you have any thoughts on that other peer-to-peer messaging app? 17:21.040 --> 17:34.160 BChat, BChat, BChat, no, well, partially of course, but BChat also uses BLE, for example, but 17:34.160 --> 17:38.880 it does not really have a routing protocol, it just sends messages, we have a routing protocol 17:38.880 --> 17:44.760 which kind of ensures that you message really arrives and you also get and feedback from 17:44.760 --> 17:45.760 that. 17:45.760 --> 17:55.800 So, yeah, partially, so I would say what makes us quite unique is the routing protocol 17:55.800 --> 18:03.920 where we can really interconnect all the different layers and wherever you are, you can 18:03.920 --> 18:14.920 then use the services that are offered there. 18:14.920 --> 18:20.800 During the trips and crisis, did you try some other layers quite like advanced mouse 18:20.800 --> 18:26.760 coding called visible communications or infrared transmission to create the mesh? 18:26.760 --> 18:28.360 No, we were not there. 18:28.440 --> 18:33.960 Only two dots for GGS Wi-Fi. 18:33.960 --> 18:41.680 So we started in 2011 during the hourspring to write this application because of the 18:41.680 --> 18:54.480 average rate. 18:54.480 --> 19:02.440 So the user is a public key and the private key is derived on the device. 19:02.440 --> 19:06.000 Is there some backup mechanism or what's the idea behind that? 19:06.000 --> 19:10.480 We are currently implementing a backup mechanism that you can export all your data that you 19:10.480 --> 19:16.160 also can transfer it to a new device and that you can re-import it again, yes. 19:16.160 --> 19:20.640 So I would say coming soon. 19:20.640 --> 19:22.040 All right, any other questions up? 19:22.040 --> 19:23.040 David? 19:23.040 --> 19:37.920 Oh, okay, then there should be a new version next week, yes. 19:37.920 --> 19:44.640 Okay, hello, we have a question from the internet, from someone in the chat, which is, 19:44.640 --> 19:47.760 is for a world secrecy implemented? 19:47.760 --> 19:49.760 No, yet, but it will come. 19:49.760 --> 19:50.760 Okay. 19:50.760 --> 19:55.240 We will implement the key rotation system that contains forward secrecy at the moment you 19:55.240 --> 19:59.760 have just a static key for your connection. 19:59.760 --> 20:04.840 And I have a follow-up question which is which crypto stack are you using? 20:04.840 --> 20:11.440 We are using for the end-to-end encryption, encryption, the noise stack, for the transport 20:11.440 --> 20:14.040 encryption, it depends for the TCP stack there. 20:14.040 --> 20:21.040 We are also using the noise protocol and for the quick stack there is TLS. 20:21.040 --> 20:23.040 Okay, and you have time. 20:23.040 --> 20:28.040 Okay, one more question, which is which routing are you using? 20:28.040 --> 20:30.040 Are you routing packets? 20:30.040 --> 20:31.040 Are you fluid? 20:31.040 --> 20:32.040 Floating the network? 20:32.040 --> 20:33.040 How are you doing it? 20:33.040 --> 20:38.040 We are using a distance-based, distance vector-based routing protocol. 20:38.040 --> 20:46.040 So each user sends to all its neighbor packages of all the neighbors it sees. 20:46.040 --> 20:51.040 And every kind of one in the network and out of these tables. 20:51.040 --> 20:55.040 And then the metrics we also test the connection. 20:55.040 --> 20:57.040 We test the connection, we have the hop counts. 20:57.040 --> 21:03.040 And out of these metrics each user calculates the best way to the next one. 21:03.040 --> 21:09.040 Only always the next hop in this metric is then decided by. 21:09.040 --> 21:12.040 So you are doing analysis with that information periodically. 21:12.040 --> 21:18.040 And then the local router calculates is best next to the hop and that's how packets travel. 21:18.040 --> 21:23.040 And do you have any way to assure the arrive at the destination? 21:23.040 --> 21:26.040 And you kind of TCP-like confirmation? 21:26.040 --> 21:29.040 Yes, we have a confirmation packet, so yeah. 21:29.040 --> 21:31.040 Okay. 21:31.040 --> 21:33.040 All right, and that takes us to our time. 21:33.040 --> 21:35.040 Let's get another round of applause, everyone. 21:35.040 --> 21:36.040 Thank you, Matt. 21:36.040 --> 21:38.040 Please share your time. 21:38.040 --> 21:39.040 Thank you. 21:39.040 --> 21:43.040 All right, I want to verify our next presentation is also a chat app.