HOSN is an open source app that allows you to use Twitter with additional means of PRIVACY control. Besides using Twitter normally, HOSN provides you with the ability to tweet privately and like tweets anonymously. Your private actions are encrypted and securely stored in a private network, which is accessible only to your followers away from the commercial service providers.

Hybrid OSN was developed by Carsten Porth under the supervision of Aidmar Wainakh and Jörg Daubert as part of a master thesis at TU Darmstadt. It is a prototype which was created as proof of concept.

Functionality

1. Anonymous Like: like a tweet without disclosing your identity, thus, Likes cannot be used to track your behavior on Twitter and infer sensitive information about you. The publisher of the tweet will receive your anonymous Like with no link to you.

2. Private Tweet: you would like to share some content with your fellows on Twitter, still do not want this content to be used for any commercial purposes, HOSN enables you to tweet that content privately. Your private tweets will be encrypted and stored away from Twitter Inc. in a private network, where no service providers are taking advantage of your data. The private network is decentralized and built by many users’ devices such that no central authority controls it.

HOSN opens the door for public and private communication simultaneously using your Twitter account. You do not need to switch to a new social network to enjoy your right to PRIVACY. HOSN brings PRIVACY to your favorite social network.