Patent pending · In testing in Windpost
“Is it really you?” Now a phone can answer.
PhysicLink proves that a call or a message comes from a person’s own genuine phone, unlocked by that person’s own face or fingerprint.
Voices and faces can be copied. The secure chip in a real phone is a different kind of problem.
The problem
A familiar voice is no longer proof.
The call sounds like your son: an accident, money needed right now, and a request to tell no one. It is an old scam with new tools.
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A voice can be cloned
A short recording can be enough to make a convincing copy of how someone speaks.
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A face can be faked
Software can put one person’s face on another in a video call, as the call happens.
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A name proves little
A name on a screen or a number that looks right can be made to appear by someone else.
How it works
Start from the phone, not from the picture.
PhysicLink does not rely on whether a face looks real. It starts by asking where the call is coming from, using hardware already in people’s pockets.
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The phone shows it is genuine
Before a call or a check, the phone’s maker is asked to vouch for the phone and for the app on it. A changed system is reported, not hidden.
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The owner unlocks it
A key that cannot leave the phone’s secure chip works only after that person’s face or fingerprint. The phone does the matching and the app is told only yes or no.
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The proof continues through the call
The other phone checks the proof when the call starts and keeps checking what arrives, so the badge speaks about now and not about a moment ago.
The badge
Three honest answers, in plain words.
Nobody has to understand keys or chips. Each answer says what it means and what to do next. No call is cut off automatically, and the choice stays with the person.
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Green
PhysicLink™ Verified
Ali’s own phone, now.
The phone was checked and its owner unlocked it. Carry on.
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Grey
Not checked
The check could not run.
An older phone or a weak connection, usually. It does not mean danger. For money or an emergency, ask for a check.
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Red
Could not confirm
Reach Ali another way.
Something concrete failed, such as a phone whose system has been changed. Do not send money. Red is meant to be rare.
Main features
One tap, plus the unlock you already use.
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Verified calls
Video and voice calls show who the call comes from, beside the person’s name, for as long as the call lasts.
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“Is it really you?”
Tap Check on a person’s name. That person’s phone asks for a face or fingerprint and sends back an answer the asking phone can verify.
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Verified messages
Video and voice messages recorded in the app carry the badge. Anything picked from a gallery or forwarded says that it was not.
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Money requests with proof
A request for money carries its own proof. If a phone cannot be fully checked, a second person is asked to approve.
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A verified hello for a new phone
When someone joins or changes phones, the others see a verified introduction. A phone set up again recently is not shown as verified on a call until some days have passed.
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Family witnesses
No single phone has to decide alone. Signed proofs, never the picture or the sound, can go to other family phones that check them independently.
What is different
Built on what a phone can prove.
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Hardware first
Tools that only study a picture or a voice have to estimate, and the fakes keep improving. PhysicLink begins with keys held in a phone’s secure chip.
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No new device
It uses the phones people already own and the face or fingerprint unlock they already use. There are no codes to compare and no settings to learn.
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Private by design
The face and the fingerprint stay on the phone, and the video never reaches the verification service.
Honest limits
What a green badge does not say.
A badge that promises too much is a new way to be fooled, so we say where the proof stops.
- It does not say the words are true. It speaks about the phone and its owner’s unlock, not about what is being said, or whether someone is under pressure.
- Not every phone can prove the same. Some phones reveal less about their system than others, and the badge claims only what that phone can show.
- Older phones and weak connections show grey. Some older phones do not check pictures in a group call. A call goes on either way.
- It cannot replace judgment. When money or an emergency is involved, pause and reach the person another way as well.
- It is still in testing. PhysicLink is not yet in a public release, and what it can do will change as testing goes on.
Where it runs today
Windpost is the first place to use it.
Windpost is a private, invitation-only messenger for families, encrypted end to end, from the same company. PhysicLink is being tested in its calls and messages, with people who already know each other.
Intellectual property
Patent pending.
PhysicLink is the subject of pending U.S. patent applications. Pending applications are not granted patents, and none has been granted on these yet.
- U.S. Patent ApplicationNo. 19/533,234
- U.S. Patent ApplicationNo. 19/850,310
Company and contact
Crowner Technology Inc.
PhysicLink and Windpost are made by Crowner Technology Inc., a Canadian company in Richmond, British Columbia.
Building something where a wrong identity costs real money? Or a question about PhysicLink?
support@crowner.ca