Open source social network Diaspora* has released its source code on github. While the site lacks the level of interactivity as Facebook, it features the barebones features that have come to be expected from social networking sites. Photos and albums can be uploaded, status updates and photos can be publicly and privately shared, and friends can be added and managed.

What separates Diaspora* from Facebook is its security and privacy. All traffic is signed and encrypted with GPG, save photos. The goal of Diaspora* is to decentralize existing networks, allowing users to create their own, personally hosted version of Diaspora* called a seed. A seed connects to other services such as Twitter, Flickr, and yes, Facebook and pulls that information back to the local host. Any information minus photos, sent from your Diaspora* seed is encrypted, as is any incoming information. It's also possible to friend other seeds and its possible to synchronize over direct, secure connections. And because the platform is open source, it's possible to customize your seed's appearance and potentially add new services and support for additional features.

Currently, Diaspora* is not available to the public, but a developer edition is available on github. For more information on Diaspora* visit joindiaspora.com.