Impervious Browser: Functionality Overview

The Impervious Browser will be publicly released April 7th, during the Bitcoin 2022 Conference, in Miami.

• Zoom, without Zoom.
• Google Docs, without Google.
• Medium, without Medium.
• WhatsApp, without WhatsApp.
• Payments, without banks.
• Identity, without the state.
• All without centralized intermediaries and built into the Impervious Browser.

In August 2021, Impervious released a bundle of APIs built on the Bitcoin Lightning Network, which created a programmatic layer for Bitcoin - (i.e. “Layer 3”). The Impervious APIs enable any application or service to stream cryptographically secure, censorship and surveillance resistant data transmission channels.

Following an enthusiastic reception of the Impervious APIs, we fused all of our Peer-to-Peer ("P2P") capabilities together into one easily consumable super application - the Impervious Browser.

Creating a New P2P Internet Standard: Circumventing Intermediaries and Digital Gatekeepers

Impervious is building the tools and infrastructure for the P2P internet. By interlacing Lightning, Decentralized Identifiers (DIDs), a DIDComm system, WebRTC, IPFS and more into a familiar application, the Impervious Browser is able to provide an entire suite of easy to use P2P capabilities.

An Overview:

Secure P2P Messaging: WhatsApp, without WhatsApp

• Cryptographically secure, persistent and ephemeral messaging
• Decentralized, real-time P2P communication between browsers and DIDs
• Secure communication between peers and peer groups
• No third-party intermediaries to survey, capture, or censor messages
• All inbound and outbound messages are cryptographically signed and verified by respective parties for authenticated message integrity
• Secure P2P file transfer directly via WebRTC or encrypted third party relay

Secure P2P Audio and Video Calls: Zoom, without Zoom

• Peer-to-Peer WebRTC data channels without third party intermediaries - supporting audio, video, messaging, and real-time data transmission
• Group video and audio Calls (i.e. Google Hangouts or Zoom)
• Ephemeral Chat (conversation only lives until the end of the call)
• Available usage of data channels for additional real-time communication (ex. file transfers and games)

Decentralized and Local Storage

• Files can be encrypted and stored locally in both the browser and designated encrypted system database
• Files can be published to an anonymous, publicly accessible, decentralized data store (IPFS)
• IPFS is managed automatically and fully integrated into the underlying Impervious Daemon
• Files published to IPFS can be universally accessed via IPNS and a persistent link (similar to DNS)
• Built in IPFS pinning services allows for persistent file availability, even when a user's IPFS node is offline, without requiring IPFS node management
• File management via the Impervious Browser - bookmark, control access and endpoints
• IPFS nodes can be federated to a trusted domain

Real-Time P2P Collaborative Workspaces: Google Docs, without Google

• Real-time, Peer-to-Peer collaborative workspaces for document creation, editing and publishing
• Create, collaborate and share documents directly from within the Impervious Browser - a Google Docs-esque experience
• Control and manage access (i.e. read/write privileges) for all collaborative documents
• Share the document privately amongst authorized peers, without unauthorized users or third parties being aware of the files existence
• Publish encrypted documents to IPFS, readable only via authorized peers
• Publish unencrypted documents to IPFS, to generate publicly accessible content
• Be notified and pull offline document changes via optional DIDComm relay

Newsletters, Subscriptions and Direct Content Monetization: Medium, without Medium

• Self-host and serve newsletters, blogs and subscriptions - all without relying on intermediaries
• Store content locally, publish to IPFS (or an endpoint of your choice), generate universally accessible endpoints via IPNS (similar to DNS), make content discoverable via Decentralized Identifiers (DIDs) and receive payments for subscriptions over the Lightning Network
• Own your data and original content
• Upload content (audio, video, file, etc.) via the Impervious Browser and distribute to an endpoint of your choice
• Publish and monetize premium content
• Create, pay, and verify Lightning Invoices
• Send and receive Lightning Keysend Payments
• Create pay-to-play links, prompting peers to fulfill a key exchange or Lightning Invoice to view premium content
• Port existing audiences to bolster subscription content revenue resiliency
• Offer goods and services via links associated with a decentralized identity

Decentralized Identity (DIDs) Control and Management: Identity, without the State

• True cryptographic ownership of a decentralized user identity (DID)
• Create private identities to be shared privately amongst peers
• Generate decentralized identities via ION (a globally accessible, public, Decentralized Identifier network that runs on top of the Bitcoin blockchain) - directly from the Impervious Browser
• Published identities can be discovered and fetched by other peers
• Published identities cannot be deleted or modified by any actor other than its owner
• Published identities do not have to contain PII, allowing for anonymous interchangeable identities (similar to aliases)
• Create one-time, single use identities to be traded for key exchange, with limited time value messaging, payment, or specialty applications
• Manage private and public identities for seamless in-app profile switching and compartmentalization
• Use your DID for password-less authentication and one-click user registration
• Utilize DIDs to create high fidelity, authenticated, and encrypted messages between peers without third parties or middleware

Decentralized Communication (DIDComm)

• Manage and control several communication points of contact within your decentralized identity (DID) via DIDComm
• Allow communication points of contact to be publicly discoverable or remain private and exclusively accessible via trusted peers
• Communication between DIDs (via DIDComm) is transport agnostic, making several channels available for peers to receive content or data
• Create backup communication channels to ensure alternative fall-back points of contact
• List multiple locations for hosted data within a decentralized identity to be universally discoverable and resilient
• Create data redundancy - provide various forms and paths to content to bolster data accessibility and resiliency
• Search and retrieve content from peer identities to connect with friends, creators, and brands
• Hosted data can include any arbitrary file type (ex. applications, websites, community information, or public keys)

Impervious is building the tools and infrastructure for the P2P internet. By interlacing Lightning, Decentralized Identifiers (DIDs), a DIDComm system, WebRTC, IPFS and more into a familiar application, the Impervious Browser is able to provide an entire suite of easy to use P2P capabilities.

Next Week: We'll be publishing a comprehensive technical proposal, titled - How Decentralized Identifiers (“DIDs”) Can Be Leveraged by the Bitcoin Lightning Network

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