Enclayve is a dull black box for your private group chats

The pocket is A private social service hosted on a physical device. Plug it in, connect to Wi-Fi, and the device will act as a central server for a social network that can accommodate up to a few hundred people. Only the person who has the device and the people they invite can log in and see what’s being shared there.

The device is a small rectangular plastic box, smaller than a credit card. It costs $129, but only one person needs to own it, and they can invite others to enter. (They’ll also have to download the app.) Once you’re allowed in, the app looks like a simple social media site. People can post in groups to chat and share photos. All messages and media sent between people in the group are stored on the device, which comes with a 32GB microSD card that can be swapped out as needed. The company says there are no subscription costs, no ads, no in-app purchases, and no data tracking by Enclayve.

Enclayve is meant to be a refutation of social sites like Facebook and X. Instead of having to post everything publicly and implicitly allowing a company to suck up all the data about your interactions on its platform, Enclayve stores all that information on a physical device and encrypts everything. It’s the latest in a series of privacy-focused devices that aim to help users control their private data, such as security cameras that Keep the footage local or Hardware firewalls That protects you online.

Courtesy of Enclayve

Enclayve CEO David Chura is a former Northrop Grumman executive and father of two. He says he was inspired to build the product in 2020 after watching Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg make some unconvincing privacy promises in… certificate To the US Congress.

“They were so weak, it made me think there would never be legislation that could address the problems in social media,” Chora says. “Consumers should be able to protect themselves.”

Although Enclayve’s focus is on a private social media service, it was initially there, says Chora. Three distinct versions For the hardware: One is designed to be a cryptocurrency wallet and the other is for cryptocurrencies She denieds, or non-fungible tokens. As the cryptocurrency economy collapsed and the idea of ​​paying real money for digital “art” lost popularity, those deals fell through, and Enclayve was marketed solely as a social device.

pocket It was launched in March. The company positions its product as a group The app for families He loves Family album. Enclayve wants to take this a step further and keep everything sent by everyone on its platform safe in its physical box. Device owners can create separate groups and topics and choose who is invited to what. It feels like a stripped-down version of WhatsApp’s communities feature, or even a very simple Slack workspace.