Encryption on Babl

When initial details of Babl were released last week, I said there would be three layers of encryption in the text component of the app. I meant it, and we’ve delivered.

Not only is privacy and security important to the end users who use popular apps, but it ought to be important to those who produce apps and run websites. In the age of the NSA & Edward Snowden, but also nosy neighbours and friends, I wanted encryption to be a big part of the Babl platform.

So we’ve built Babl with multiple layers of some of the hardest-to-crack encryption available: AES 256-bit. You can find out more about how secure AES 256 is here, but in a nutshell: it would take all the computing power currently available on Earth 77,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 years to crack a single AES 256-bit encryption key. That’s longer than the universe has been around.

Perhaps that’s why the US government deems AES 256 adequate protection for its highest level of classified info: Top Secret. At Babl, we don’t want people who have access to your Wifi router to be able to spy on your messages, and we don’t want any government being able to put its nose where it doesn’t belong. 

Announcing Babl public beta

I’m really happy to announce that Babl is now available for all Android (4.1+) devices as part of our public beta trial. You can download it from the Googe Play Store by clicking here. By beta, we mean that the currently available product isn’t the final product, and may have the odd small bug in it.

If you haven’t yet heard of Babl, it’s a one-word messaging app… Find out more here and here.

It’s been a long, hard slog to get Babl from a small idea through the design phase and now to a publicly available app. I’m immensely proud of it, and I’m looking forward to finally allowing the wider public to have a look.

If there are glitches, let me apologise in advance. I very much want it to be this way; having live user feedback is by far the best way to create the perfect app. Much better than having it in development for 12 months, not to see the light of day that is public feedback.

So, if you’re on Android, please go ahead and download Babl from the Play Store today! Feel free to add me when you do, my Babl PIN is: 1E4F7FCE.

Blocking on Babl

At Babl, we take our users’ security, privacy, and enjoyment seriously. That’s why we’ve developed a comprehensive blocking policy, which ensures not only that you never hear from those you block ever again, but that they can’t access your Babl information or public profile.

One of Babl’s features is that a user can request a new PIN by closing their account. We think this is important, as it allows users a ‘fresh start’ should they want one. However, when planning this feature, the question arose of how a blocked user would be treated if they got a new PIN. We didn’t want a situation where an harasser could continue harassing simply by getting a new PIN.

The solution is that it’s not just the PIN of the blockee that is blocked, but that user’s entire phone. That means that blocks are transferred to a user’s new account, even if they get a new Babl PIN.

So, here’s our blocking policy in a nutshell:

- Blocked users can’t add you;

- Blocked users can’t send Babls to you;

- Blocked users can’t see your public profile;

- Blocked users are still blocked even if they request a new PIN.

We want Babl to be a safe, secure, private & enjoyable experience, and we go to lengths to protect our users from harassment. Enjoy!