Hong Kong Protesters Are Communicating Without Cell or Wi-Fi Networks

Today, pro-democracy protesters have expanded their rallies throughout Hong Kong. They are defying calls to disperse as they lead a major pushback against Beijing's decision to limit democratic reforms in the Asian financial hub. Taking into account the time difference, by Monday evening, protesters had occupied streets in several areas of Hong Kong causing major traffic delays. Needless to say, financial markets were definitely feeling the strain.

As these protesters continue to organize their rallies in Hong Kong’s central business district, they have been using a unique way to communicate amongst themselves without the need for cell towers or Wi-Fi nodes. Initially, the rallies were spearheaded by college students and they are certainly bringing technology into play.

FireChat is an open-source, real-time chat widget built on Firebase. It offers fully secure multi-user, multi-room chat with flexible authentication, moderator features, user presence and search, private messaging, chat invitations, among other things. Unlike traditional networks that link nodes directly to a central hub or a bus configuration connecting each node to a central line, FireChat creates a mesh network.

Mesh networking connects each node to at least two other nodes and potentially to each and every other network node. This is an arrangement that is referred to as "fully connected." This allows the network to heal itself automatically when a break occurs, so there's no interruption of service to any node. This is the method of communication that the protesters are using to communicate with each other. At this time, FireChat can connect devices up to 200 feet apart. 

One way that the government can control certain situations like protests is to limit or eliminate communications. We have seen this recently in the Ukraine. It seems that the government grabbed the protesters id's by checking what phone numbers where in the area. They were then able to send a text basically saying that all the people are under arrest. Once the text was sent they shut the cell network down. Using a mesh network through FireChat you do not need a cell network and you can remain relatively anonymous.

According to Gizmodo, "Mesh networks are an especially resilient tool because there's no easy way for a government to shut them down. They can't just block cell reception or a site address. Mesh networks are like Voldemort after he split his soul into horcruxes (only not evil). Destroying one part won't kill it unless you destroy each point of access; someone would have to turn off Bluetooth on every phone using FireChat to completely break the connection. This hard-to-break connection isn't super important for casual chats, but during tense political showdowns, it could be a lifeline."

Open Garden is the company that made FireChat, Christophe Daligault, the company's vice president for sales and marketing said "Once you build a mesh network ... now you have a network that is resilient, self-healing, cannot be controlled by any central organization, cannot be shut down and is always working. I think that solves many other drawbacks or challenges of the mobile broadband Internet today."

In a 24 hour period between Sunday and Monday nights about 100,000 users downloaded the free FireChat app. So far there have been no reports of cell or Wi-Fi network outages, student leaders and protesters are recommending the FireChat mesh network as a precaution against such an outage. Since FireChat is not an encrypted app, anyone using the app can see all of the public messages, however, it does seem like the perfect tool to keep everyone on the same page.