Fairdrop: Secure, private, unstoppable file transfer for the free world

This blog was first published on the Datafund blog.

“Awareness requires a rupture with the world we take for granted; then old categories of experience are called into question and revised.” Shoshana Zuboff

Our world is becoming increasingly digital and our freedom is at stake. The Web of today is plagued with aggressively expanding profiteering surveillance practices, design choices that erode our agency, invasive tracking, obnoxious advertising, centrally controlled services and an exploitive economy that’s almost completely removed from our sight. To a pessimist it may look like privacy has become an obsolete notion during the Web 2.0 reign, drowned by “free” services.

Fortunately, that is not the case. We are starting to see the value of online privacy. There are more and more tools that help us protect it and they are increasingly based on a new logic. One that puts privacy, security and anonymity first.

Fairdrop, the first dapp based on Fair Data Society principles

We want to be among the contributors to this new paradigm. That’s why we would like to present to you the Fairdrop file transfer dapp. It’s the first blockchain dapp by Fair Data Society based entirely on the Fair Data Society principles. These principles make privacy its №1 feature without sacrificing user experience. Fairdrop is not just a theoretical concept but a concrete decentralized service that wants to take its centralized counterparts head on.

Watch a quick video tutorial below:

No privacy policy, elegant user experience

We were conditioned to believe that privacy is the price to pay for convenience. Fairdrop shatters that belief by seamlessly fusing the two. It comes without a privacy policy, because it simply doesn’t collect any data, and at the same time provides a smooth, easy-to-use service. If we want to leave the world of cynical privacy policies behind, then user-friendly zero-data apps are the right path.

Decentralised, running on Swarm and Ethereum

Fairdrop runs on the Ethereum network and Swarm’s decentralized storage system. This makes it:

• fault tolerant,
• censorship-resistant,
• DDOS-resistant
• and with zero downtime.

At the same time it comes with a built-in 256-bit ECDSA signature algorithm and the ability to send files of up to 5 MB in size. It also comes with four key functionalities.

1. Quick send feature

For those that wish to use Fairdrop with minimal hassle and only want to send or share an unencrypted file, this is the easiest feature. Just drag & drop a file, wait until it uploads to Swarm, copy the share link and send it to whoever you want to share it with. A word of warning, anyone with the link will be able to see the content. It literally takes longer to read this paragraph than to fairdrop a file.

2. Secure send feature

If you would like the secure sending and sharing possibility, choose this option. Create a password-protected mailbox, choose the recipient, upload a file, encrypt and send it. With this option the encrypted file is safely and privately sent but only to other Fairdrop mailboxes, so make sure your recipient has one.

3. Store feature

This option uploads and stores the file to Swarm. You can save it for yourself or share it with others. This is one of the crucial features for future personal data storage applications which will form the basis for an autonomous digital existence. All your data in a private, decentralized and secure storage. Think of it as the beginning of your future digital safe-zone for private & personal data.

4. Take your mailbox with you with the export & import feature

The export & import feature promises some of the most interesting capabilities in the future. If you clean your cookies often or want to take your files safely to another computer, just export the mailbox and then import it whenever and wherever you need it.

Coming up: bigger files, better security, improved UX

We would like to point out that Fairdrop is still in an alpha development stage. This means that we will continue to hone and develop it. Some really neat upgrades are planned in collaboration with the Swarm team, but in general our plans for the next development stage will focus on:

• Javascript library so devs can build their own dapps,
• the ability to send very large files,
• improving the UX,
• security review and improvements,
• new features.

Fairdrop is free to use and open-source so give it a spin, take a look at the code, use it and let us know what you think. Or participate in our bug bounty.

Here is a simplified diagram (some technical details have been left out) of how Fairdrop works.

Talk to us!

We don’t have to give up our privacy and freedom just to use an app! Share your thoughts with us, we would love to hear what you have to say, or start following us at the links below:

• Drop us a message, file or photo at mailbox datafund on Fairdrop
• Check out & donate to our Fair Data Society DAC on Giveth,