Anonymous De-centralized Ephemeral Chat Application using Interplanetary File System

Abstract

Communication is essential for human beings and we communicate globally with the means of internet every day. Internet is an interconnected mesh of networks where our data is transferred through hundreds of nodes before reaching its destination. As the intermediary network node increases, the risk of losing confidentiality and integrity is also affected. Decentralized Chat (DChat) is a chat service on the Interplanetary File System (IPFS) peer-to-peer protocol where users can communicate with ephemeral chats under any anonymous alias. The users are not aware of real identity of each other and the chats are lost from the service once the node is disconnected. The data is tamper-resistant because to alter it would change the hash and invalidate it from the network. Here we aim to develop a secure chat service that provides anonymity and ephemeral chats using cost-effective IPFS technology.