Enclayve is a private social service hosted on a physical device. Plug it in, connect to Wi-Fi, and the device acts like a central server for a social network that can accommodate up to a few hundred people. Only the person with the device and the people they invite can log in and see what is shared there.

The device is a little rectangular plastic box, smaller than a credit card. It costs $129, but only one person needs to own it, and they can invite others in. (They’ll also have to download the app.) Once allowed in, the app looks like a bare-bones social media site. People can post in groups to chat and share photos.

All messages and media sent between people in a group are stored on the device, which comes with a 32-GB microSD card that can be swapped out as needed. There is no subscription cost, no ads, no in-app purchases, and no data tracking by Enclayve, the company says.

David Chura, CEO of Enclayve, is a former director at Northrop Grumman and father of two. He says he was inspired to build the product in 2020 after watching Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg make some unconvincing privacy promises in testimony to US Congress.

Chura’s hope is for Enclayve to expand into a peer-to-peer network that supports much larger groups of people. I ask Chura about content restrictions—whether Enclayve can do anything to monitor the content people share. Does he worry about people using this product for illegal things? Chura cuts right to the chase; he’s gotten these questions before.