Progress: We are in PHASE 2 of our Project Plan (+1 year core development)

The Relay Project, a non-profit, open-source, community-run, blockchain-powered social network. Our project’s undertaking adheres to a strict vision: we believe the user’s social content belongs solely to the user, and that their data should be theirs to control. Sadly, as we are constantly reminded with every data leak or privacy infringement, not only is this not the case, the notion of controlling your data is almost unheard of.

Relay goes a different way. It harnesses the power of the online community to offer a people’s alternative to the brand-focused software industry and privatized software services we’ve come to know. By encrypting sensitive personal data and securing it locally, never on centralized cloud servers, Relay gives the keys directly to the end-user. We offer the public an alternative not just in software, but with approach to the way the internet should be utilized.

• We are open-source and believe in sharing and building together with the public. We are small and non-profit, building Relay from the ground up, with core development in progress for over a year+.

• We are community-run, and willing to share ideas, profits, and reputation for the greater good (with many use-case examples and models ready).

• Lastly, we utilize block chain and P2P encryption technology to ensure security at a time when many internet users are voicing great concern over issues of privacy

With Relay, our goal is to help software end-users reduce reliance on authority, enable block chain-powered content creation, and bring online communities back to their source and purpose: the freedom of open, secure, & sustainable communication on the internet.

The Relay Project is based on our ‘Community Source Principles’ which provide the people (end-users) with direct access to the development cycle and decision making process of the software they use. Not only do we want the people involved in their own internet experience again, we want the people involved in development of where that internet experience may lead in the future. As a non-profit, open-source project, we aim to create communication and e-commerce tools that anyone can use freely, minus the corporate ‘profit motive’ fee schedules, and the arbitrary boundaries and forms we’ve all come to accept.

Relay introduces the following concepts and features:

• Unified Channels (worldwide, unlimited communication)
• Proximity Channels (location-based communication & services)
• Keyspace (data control & ownership)
• Turnkey Automation (proximity + Public Key Identity)
• Public Key Identity Reputation System & Network Invites

Our team is approaching social networking differently as we believe the time is ripe for reassessment of that direction. Block chain-powered social networking software (like Relay) solves a variety of problems by providing users with their own Public Key Identity, and a corresponding Private Key. This allows users strict control over their social content, prevents data leaks and 3rd party mining, and even allows (for example) people to take their data/timeline to another (block chain) social network if they please.

As time has progressed, the internet has changed and our reliance on traditional media has been slowly replaced by a few select companies and algorithms determining how our information is formatted and filtered.  Looking ahead, maybe there is a silver lining missing, no good alternatives even with an unsatisfactory internet experience, because it is believed nothing can be done in the face of heavy obstacles.

We seek funding for the following:

• To promote public awareness of The Relay Project and other projects aligned with Community Source Principles
• To expand our community and educate people about Relay
• To add more team members to core development and expand the project
• To keep The Relay Team working on the project at 100% capacity
• To effectively educate the public the benefits of key-pair-encryption, block chain technology, and the concept of alternatives to ‘internet gatekeeping’ via various media.
• To fund a world-wide network of low-cost, self-managed Relay Node servers, endlessly expanding the reaches and influences of The Relay Network 

We are also looking for like-minded people who want to be involved.

There are many conversations to be had about the internet and its state today and The Relay Project is the culmination of many questions. For instance, is it necessary for gatekeepers entities  (such as Facebook or Twitter) to take such a prominent role in the policies of the internet and the expression of data?  Who, if not these corporations, should be making such decisions, and how does the public hold them accountable?

Relay is a public ALTERNATIVE, a non-profit project with the goal of providing the any people anywhere with a true permanent personal security and internet freedom they can rely on, (hopefully) forever. The Relay Team believes users deserve direct access to client-stored key-pair encryption (the power to hold your own information, protect your own identity) and the unlimited power and potential of block chain technology.

We aim to help average and veteran users alike feel empowered by their ability to edit and contribute to any element of their internet experience directly.

Relay is an accumulation of ideas and concepts that have been discarded, displaced, or forgotten. The team behind The Relay Project consists of both veteran internet and relatively new users alike who have come together with shared ideas for the future. The Relay Project is determined to repurpose the experience towards the user, so the user may focus beyond the noise and better their own personal internet experience, and share that experience with others.

Thank you for checking us out and for any help you may bring.