Protected circles

What it is

Closed groups for your family, class or group, with messages that arrive even with no signal, from phone to phone. Every circle has a responsible adult who approves who joins.

Why it exists

Families and schools need to be able to reach each other at all times, even where the network doesn't reach, for safety and to get organised. Children must be able to do so without any stranger reaching them.

How it works for you

• Creating one: an adult (parent, teacher, educator) creates the circle from Settings › “Protected circles” and makes an invite code, valid for 7 days.
• Joining: whoever receives the code enters it with the name they want to be recognised by. The person in charge approves people one by one.
• If a child joins: their parent approves too, if that's a different person. The parent always sees which circles their child is in and can remove them.
• Writing: the circle appears in the ERERE Network under “Your circles”, and you can write there even without internet.
• Blocking: from the Network panel, “Block” next to a circle message: from then on that person's messages no longer reach your phone, even with no signal. The person in charge can't be blocked (they can be reported). The block reaches the person in charge as a report and, for a child, the parent too.
• Reporting: Any member can report another member (“bothering me”, “scaring me”, “bad words”, “asking personal things”, “other”). The person in charge knows at once; if a child reports, their parent knows too. If three different people report the same person within 24 hours, ERERE's Custodian steps in as well.

What you give

The name the other members see you by.

What you get

Encrypted messages that arrive even with no signal, only between approved people.

What you choose

If you're in charge, who joins and who leaves. If you're a parent, which circles your child is in. If you're a member, when to leave.

Honest limits

• The person in charge reads everything: they are always a member of the circle, so they receive every message written to it. That is the supervision.
• Children write to two kinds of recipient only: the circle or the adults in charge, never privately to other children or to adult strangers. On their phone, a message from someone who isn't on the list doesn't even arrive.
• ERERE doesn't read the messages: they are end-to-end encrypted.
• The member list is valid for 30 days: ERERE signs it and it renews as soon as the phone goes online. Anyone removed disappears from the lists at the next connection.

Where it stands

In the system and verified by automated tests, on the real server and on the simulated no-signal Network. Testing on real phones awaits the app build.