[messaging] Audible public-key fingerprints

[Tom Ritter]

On 17 August 2014 11:52, Mike Hearn <mike at plan99.net> wrote:
>> The user-comprehensibility of one device singing a key to another device
>> is somewhat compelling.
>
>
> I'd say it's maybe the opposite - if you're exposing the notion of a key you
> already lost the user comprehension war. The nice thing about BT is it can
> be completely passive. Did you have a nice conversation with some stranger
> this afternoon? No worries, this evening you can send them an encrypted
> message: your phone already has their first name + photo in the "recent
> encounters" screen and you can just go ahead and start chatting.

I have to agree with Andy (or take it a step further) - that sounds
terrifying. I think that very few people would want their phones
gossiping about their identity to anyone nearby once the benefits and
impact of it was explained to them.

If you're going to make a proactive step to exchange contact
information, your options are Audio, NFC, and Bluetooth. Or Bluetooth
LE. And you're going to lose a certain segment of the population who
have a phone but not the specific transfer mechanism you chose.  And
these technologies are opaque, sometimes scary.

I think audio has a very compelling 'cuteness' to it.

-tom