Send text messages trustlessly using bitcoin
In today's world, most tech and financial applications require personal and financial information to process the simplest tasks. Platforms like gmail and dropbox are obsessed with storing personal data in their private servers, which can be compromised.
Over the past few years an increasing number of Software as a Service (SaaS) companies have begun to offer Application Program Interface (API) solutions to send text messages to phones, from web-based applications and browsers.
APIs are simply a set of routines, protocols, and tools for building software applications. However, SaaS API integrated applications sometimes rely on private data to function.
“The current dilemma is if we want to build a service or device, and have it interact with other nodes on the Internet, we usually have to lend it the credentials of a human.”
— – Justin Guy
Justin Guy is exploring how Bitcoin can facilitate machine to machine communication in a trustless environment, “without the need for borrowing the identity and financial details from people.” You can follow find his blog on Medium.
These SaaS companies and application developers often have no choice but to store all this private data on their servers, despite the high probability of a hacking attack or a data breach.
When dealing with payments, the risks become even more significant, for users at least. Most of these corporations are required to adhere to Anti Money Laundering (AML) and Know Your Customer KYC) legislation, when payments are involved, which mandates the storage of sensitive information.
The information often includes: age, gender, home address, work address, phone numbers, social security number, a valid ID screenshot, and or credit card detail. The range of data clearly stems from the need to “know your customer,” but also constitutes a checklist for hacking a person’s identity.
“Nodes can’t contact another node offering a resource and say ‘hey man can you do this for me, I’m good for it’.”
— – Guy
Guy explains that he was thinking of an example of machine to machine communication in a trustless environment, that can be applied today. "One that popped into my head is the ability to send SMS texts.” He has now built a basic web interface that allows anyone to send SMS messages to mobile users in the U.S.
Users simply input the phone number and the message to be delivered. The new text message it is then put into a queue, and once the 0.0004 bitcoin payment is received, the message is sent.
The API has two endpoints, typically represented by a simple HTTP URL string, one to create a new SMS message, and another to check the message status.
“You don’t need an account to utilize the API. It doesn’t want your email, address, or credit card information. Welcome to the future.”
— – Guy
Despite the charge, which is well above the normal sms rate in the US, Guy does not plan to monetize his software. “I built this simply as a demonstration, as a proof of concept, not as a business,” Guy states.
The tech entrepreneur is encouraging others to use the API, to create a reliable and simple bitcoin-based text messaging application, which anyone can use.
“If you wanted to turn this into a profitable business model some big changes would need to be made, and some challenges would need to be overcome (like any disruptive startup). One is to price it more competitively, currently it is more than 10x what a traditional gateway would cost.”
— – Guy
The source code for the API is currently under MIT license, and its documentation is available on github.
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