[HN Gopher] Wickr Me is shutting down December 31, 2023
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Wickr Me is shutting down December 31, 2023
Author : vorpalhex
Score : 52 points
Date : 2022-11-19 16:04 UTC (6 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (wickr.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (wickr.com)
| hobbitstan wrote:
| Wickr is a notorious hideout for pedophiles sharing CSAM. I
| wonder if that had anything to do with this?
| 55555 wrote:
| Yeah I only heard of it as a place to buy hard drugs.
| mdp2021 wrote:
| Others as a user/pass - anonymous, as expected -
| communications system that was selected by the Air Force of
| the USA.
| formerly_proven wrote:
| > the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) had invested $1.6
| million into Wickr via the CIA's shell company In-Q-Tel (...)
| Wickr markets itself to government agencies (...) On June 25,
| 2021, Wickr was acquired by Amazon (...) the founder of the
| controversial private security firm Blackwater, is one of the
| principal investors.
|
| Checks out lol
| newZWhoDis wrote:
| Yeah if it wasn't comped before, it sure was after that.
| post_break wrote:
| This person is getting downvoted, but he's 1000% not wrong.
| It's bad.
| Temporarily21 wrote:
| This is reddit?! Almost!
| encryptluks2 wrote:
| Any private end-to-end encryption solution could be considered
| a hideout for pedophiles or drug trade.
| edgyquant wrote:
| Any hotel could be a haven for drug dealing and prostitution.
| mdp2021 wrote:
| Similar things have been said for people who pay with cash.
|
| Used by "people with something to hide", and by people with
| dignity - people who deem it inappropriate to allow being
| tracked: "people with everything to hide".
| goatsi wrote:
| Wickr didn't require a phone number for account registration
| or identification so it attracted a higher proportion.
| croes wrote:
| So E2E chats in Telegram have the same problem.
|
| Every good thing can be used by bad people.
| easrng wrote:
| Telegram needs a phone number to sign up.
| feanaro wrote:
| Wickr is hardly the only platform with end-to-end
| encryption not requiring phone numbers. The same applies to
| Matrix, for example. That's not a valid rationale or
| explanation for shutting down a platform.
| waynesonfire wrote:
| Oh wow, looks like Signal requiring a phone number strikes
| a good balance.
| prvit wrote:
| No it doesn't.
| Markoff wrote:
| So just move to Matrix clients (Element, Fluffychat) or
| Wire, Session, Tox, etc.
| silisili wrote:
| I think Wire also moved to enterprise only, sadly. At
| least it appeared that way last time I visited.
| mistrial9 wrote:
| unlike say, Walmart and Purdue.. very legal there
| temp_account_32 wrote:
| Haven't heard about that but I know people use it to buy drugs
| quite often, as in the dealer will message you through Wickr,
| then you transfer crypto payments and they either mail it or
| drop it off. A breeding ground for scams related to this as
| well.
| [deleted]
| RobotToaster wrote:
| I've been expecting this since they were bought by amazon last
| year.
| quickthrower2 wrote:
| Another nail _out_ of the coffin for decentralised platforms
| carom wrote:
| Used it for a few weeks, absolute trash. There is a lot that is
| noticeably missing if you've ever used Slack. Org ended up on
| Mattermost, it has its quirks (like delayed notifications) but
| we're very happy.
| [deleted]
| tomschwiha wrote:
| The headline is misleading, it's only about their consumer
| product Wickr Me, not about the full company shutting down.
| 22c wrote:
| Pretty sure Wickr Me used to simply be called Wickr, back when
| Wickr was just a chat app.
| sieabahlpark wrote:
| dang wrote:
| Ok, we've put Me in the title above. Thanks!
| Markoff wrote:
| Oh no, where will I get my drugs now? Oh wait, I don't do drugs,
| so anyway...
|
| And even for druggies seems like Matrix should be sufficient
| enough or Wire, Session, Tox, etc.
| seattle_spring wrote:
| Not doing drugs is not the flex that you seem to think it is.
| Markoff wrote:
| judging by number of upvotes vs downvotes this comment gets
| today I learned HN is full of junkies
| jacooper wrote:
| It totally is.
| deadalus wrote:
| Wickr was one of the biggest sourcing platforms in the
| psychedelic world. It will be a huge loss for Psychonauts.
| mdp2021 wrote:
| Well it was also the software of choice for people who wanted
| their conversation with faraway peers to be, as expected,
| private.
| Temporarily21 wrote:
| Also hardcore drugs and antidotes
| arcturus17 wrote:
| Antidotes?
| coder-3 wrote:
| Any predictions about where they'll move to? I'd be surprised
| if they start picking a set of different apps.
| hsbauauvhabzb wrote:
| I work in security. People from my past have occasionally
| popped up as new signal users, I imagine they care about
| operational security for other reasons than what I do
| AmericanChopper wrote:
| A friend of mine recently joined signal, and she had a
| bunch of contacts message her saying they didn't know she
| was into take drugs...
| alophawen wrote:
| So AWS bought Wickr in 2021, and now they shut it down.
|
| Let's hope they buy capitalism next.
| dang wrote:
| Can you please not post shallow dismissals, or comments in the
| flamewar style generally, to HN? You've unfortunately been
| doing that quite a bit, and we're trying for something else
| here.
|
| If you wouldn't mind reviewing
| https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html and taking the
| intended spirit of the site more to heart, we'd be grateful.
| codetrotter wrote:
| Bur Wickr Pro, used by companies for internal communication, will
| continue to exist it seems. That's good.
| whatwherewhy wrote:
| What kind of company gets an app popular with drug dealers for
| their internal communication?
| potatototoo99 wrote:
| If your app is not popular with terrorists and child rapists,
| it is not secure.
| quickthrower2 wrote:
| I doubt that is 100% true in either direction. People,
| especially non geeks can be duped into thinking something
| is secure
| lexandstuff wrote:
| In Australia, the majority of drug deals are organised on Wickr.
| It's so popular amongst criminals, drill rappers mention it in
| their bars [1]
|
| This is going to be a huge loss (or gain if you're in law
| enforcement, I guess).
|
| [1] https://genius.com/17161424
| Stagnant wrote:
| In Finland as well, and funnily enough it is also mentioned in
| some Finnish rap songs [1]
|
| [1] https://genius.com/22801616
| m00dy wrote:
| what is Finnish Rap about ? Don't tell me it is just about
| weather xD
| shp0ngle wrote:
| Not just in Australia
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(page generated 2022-11-19 23:01 UTC)