Have you ever sent out a message to someone in a bout of anger which you regret later or by sheer mistake and wish you could take it back or delete it from their cell before they read it? Well now there is an app that lets you do just that, among the many other superior features that it has to offer.
Raketu communications' app RakEM offers a secure solution for Instant messaging with end to end encryption for texts, photos, audio and video messages, audio and video calls, eliminating the fear of the other person misusing the info for blackmailing the sender. Taking of screenshots is disabled on the receiver's phone for encrypted conversations and photos shared by the sender, adding an extra layer of security.
And the best part is that messages go directly from the sender to the receiver without any log whatsoever being stored on RakEM's servers. RakEM offers 'No TextRegret' with its total message recall feature for deleting individual sent messages or entire conversations from personal or group chats from every recipient's phone. Greg Parker, Co-Founder, Raketu Communications Inc. sat down for an exclusive interview with TelecomTalk and discussed various possible cyber threats and how RakEM - Raketu's Extended Messenger, deals with them.
How is RakEM different from other instant messengers?
All the instant messengers available in the market are not 100% safe as they keep the backup of chats, video and audio messages exchanged between users. Backup is done to avoid any possible social threat at a later stage; however, manyatimes this information is leaked on public platforms and put individuals' image at stake. We have tried to build RakEM in such a way that no individual has to face any such issue ever. Users can chat, exchange video messages and audio files without any fear of their partner misusing them to blackmail or torture at a later stage.
How is this done?
RakEM doesn't store any information about chats, audio files and video messages shared between two users. It has the only information that users desire to provide at the time of registration. Once the registration is done, none of the users' conversations are recorded by the company.
What if any stranger misuses the information provided by any user?
To deal with this issue, RakEM follow a unique way to initiate a chat between two users. For example, if A wants to chat with B, he has to send an invitation to the other person. If the other person (B) agrees to chat, he can accept the invitation and start the chat session. If someone is not comfortable in chatting, he can end the chat instantly and block the other user. At the same time, he has the option to delete all the chat messages from his phone as well as his partner's phone. By this way, RakEM eliminates any risk of one person's information being misused by his chat partner.
Can chats done with random users at different times be deleted together?
RakEM wants to make sure that no user ever feel unsafe or insecure while chatting. It comes with an option called "Total Recall." If any user has engaged in chat with different users at different times and wants to delete his chat history in one shot, he can press "Total Recall" tab and wipe off every single information that he has shared through RakEM. These chats will be deleted from his phone as well as from others' phones instantly.
Does the story remain same for live video and audio calls?
We want to give users complete freedom while chatting. As of now, there are some issues in encrypting live video and audio calls, but our developers are working on this. We will start offering encrypted video and audio calls from September. Along with video and audio calls, we are also working towards making group chats more secure and safe. We are planning to introduce 'Unsend' option in group chat that will give users a better hold on their group conversations.
Does RakEM work on desktop and tablets?
Yes, it does. We want to make sure that its desktop version is as much secured as the mobile version. Users will get all the options starting from 'Total Recall' to 'Unsend' group messages on desktops and tablets as well. We have clients for Android, iOS, MacBook and Windows. So, RakEM will work on all the major devices and operating systems.
How will you deal with security concerns in a country like India ?
We don't have any record of two people chatting through RakEM; hence, we cannot help the government with something that we don't have. The app is already live in global markets, and we haven't heard anything from governments yet. If Indian government contacts us to seek any important information, we will try to figure out the best way to help them. But frankly speaking, we can't provide them the chat records, because we don't store them.
Will you be willing to shift your server to India, if the government persists?
We follow WhatsApp's way of carrying out things. So far, WhatsApp is doing good in India without moving its server, so we think we will also do fine. If the government sticks to this issue, we will see what can be done at that time. We aren't thinking about it at this point.
Have you heard of 'Tiger Text' that had a similar concept as RakEM, but was banned in India in 2010?
Yes, I have heard of 'Tiger Text' a little bit, but I am not aware of what happened to them exactly.
It was banned because the government found it dangerous to national security. How will you deal with such issues if the government asks you to ban your services in India?
Well, I think there is no legislation that requires us to keep a log of all the calls and messages taking place on RakEM. If the government asks us to stop our services in India, then we will see how to figure out things. Our main focus as of now is to improve RakEM and establish it as the safest IM in the world. For us, ensuring user privacy is of utmost importance, everything else comes after that.
Do you feel RakEM is more promising than the other IM apps prevailing in the market at present? Would you consider using it as your primary communication app? Let us know your views and opinions through your comments below.
