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  3. Best privacy chat apps

Best privacy chat apps

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  • marcusquinnM marcusquinn

    Someone just pinged me this link on Twitter, seems to be reasonable info:

    • https://privacytools.io
    • https://privacytools.io/software/real-time-communication

    I saw someone saying the old "I have nothing to hide", although the obviously creep-ware that all these things do help hide is targeted advertising.

    Who wants to be "targeted" and have others pay to directly target them with a calculation that makes it more probable to profit from that targeting?

    Admittedly, I used to see this as legitimate business but the balance of cost and value to society doesn't seem to be in-line with efficiency and balance in relationships, so I'm personally backing away from all business that is dependent on paid advertising in preference for focusing on editorial value and self-challenging communities with a common interest in value over sales.

    d19dotcaD Offline
    d19dotcaD Offline
    d19dotca
    wrote on last edited by
    #41

    @marcusquinn said in Best privacy chat apps:

    Who wants to be "targeted" and have others pay to directly target them with a calculation that makes it more probable to profit from that targeting?

    As must as I hate any kind of privacy-invading workflows, I must confess that (specifically) targeted advertising doesn't really bother me much at all. The fact is those ads are going to be present in that spot on a webpage regardless of whether it's targeted or not. So why not at least show me relevant ads based on search keywords in the tool being used?

    To me, the only time I get creeped out and think they've crossed a line for me at least is when they start getting overly sensitive to the ads (such as Facebook) where you're not just being targeted based on a couple of data points and instead you're being targeted based on like a 100+ different data points on data they ideally shouldn't even really have in the first place.

    I think it's all a balancing act. Everyone's comfort level is a little different. Just my opinion anyways. But I totally hear ya on the "I have nothing to hide" point, those statements always irritate me when I hear them from people, shows they're completely missing the point when they say that, IMO.

    --
    Dustin Dauncey
    www.d19.ca

    1 Reply Last reply
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    • mehdiM mehdi

      @jodumont you comparison does not take into account whether or not the messages are encrypted. I personally think it's the most important feature to take into account.

      Also, take a look at Olvid. I don't use it personally, but I heard good things.

      JOduMonTJ Offline
      JOduMonTJ Offline
      JOduMonT
      wrote on last edited by
      #42

      this table was for my own personal use

      @mehdi said in Best privacy chat apps:

      I personally think it's the most important feature to take into account.

      this is true this feature should be considered,
      but also who own the encryption key, the user or the provider ?

      because most of these service yes you could encrypt a message but the provider (example Telegram) have the 2 keys so technically they could decrypt the message on the server side before forwarding it to the recipient.

      Sometimes a function is just an umbrella to make a shadow theater where we are the puppet.

      mehdiM 1 Reply Last reply
      0
      • robiR robi

        @jodumont thanks for the table!

        for Mattermost, what is meant by 'gateway to other services' ? API integrations?

        JOduMonTJ Offline
        JOduMonTJ Offline
        JOduMonT
        wrote on last edited by
        #43

        @robi said in Best privacy chat apps:

        for Mattermost, what is meant by 'gateway to other services' ? API integrations?

        Yes; but I'm not a Mattermost expert

        1 Reply Last reply
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        • mehdiM mehdi

          @jodumont you comparison does not take into account whether or not the messages are encrypted. I personally think it's the most important feature to take into account.

          Also, take a look at Olvid. I don't use it personally, but I heard good things.

          JOduMonTJ Offline
          JOduMonTJ Offline
          JOduMonT
          wrote on last edited by JOduMonT
          #44

          @mehdi said in Best privacy chat apps:

          Olvid

          Olvid sound promessing, we cloud also talk about Threema which is more or less the same but developed in Switzerland. but at the end I took my list from AlternativeTo.net and took the top 10.

          Beware most of VOIP use opportunistic encryption mainly because of issues with NAT so trusting a 3rd party for that is a big mistake for your privacy.

          These days everything is secure like email aka the authentication use SSL than the message follow in clear text.

          It would be interesting to find how/if Olvid encrypt their VOIP and which part ANSSI complement.
          for now I only see the text message being encrypted.

          mehdiM 1 Reply Last reply
          0
          • JOduMonTJ JOduMonT

            this table was for my own personal use

            @mehdi said in Best privacy chat apps:

            I personally think it's the most important feature to take into account.

            this is true this feature should be considered,
            but also who own the encryption key, the user or the provider ?

            because most of these service yes you could encrypt a message but the provider (example Telegram) have the 2 keys so technically they could decrypt the message on the server side before forwarding it to the recipient.

            Sometimes a function is just an umbrella to make a shadow theater where we are the puppet.

            mehdiM Offline
            mehdiM Offline
            mehdi
            App Dev
            wrote on last edited by mehdi
            #45

            @jodumont I am of course only talking about good end-to-end encryption, like Signal or WhatsApp (yeah, WhatsApp has many flaws, mainly their owner, but they do have good encryption).

            I don't know about Telegram's encryption, I never looked into it. I just know they don't use any by default (which, in itself, is bad)

            1 Reply Last reply
            0
            • JOduMonTJ JOduMonT

              @mehdi said in Best privacy chat apps:

              Olvid

              Olvid sound promessing, we cloud also talk about Threema which is more or less the same but developed in Switzerland. but at the end I took my list from AlternativeTo.net and took the top 10.

              Beware most of VOIP use opportunistic encryption mainly because of issues with NAT so trusting a 3rd party for that is a big mistake for your privacy.

              These days everything is secure like email aka the authentication use SSL than the message follow in clear text.

              It would be interesting to find how/if Olvid encrypt their VOIP and which part ANSSI complement.
              for now I only see the text message being encrypted.

              mehdiM Offline
              mehdiM Offline
              mehdi
              App Dev
              wrote on last edited by
              #46

              @jodumont about Olvid, from what I know, yes their calls are also encrypted, but they are only available for paid users.

              1 Reply Last reply
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              • JOduMonTJ Offline
                JOduMonTJ Offline
                JOduMonT
                wrote on last edited by JOduMonT
                #47

                @mehdi said in Best privacy chat apps:

                I don't know about Telegram's encryption, I never looked into it. I just know they don't use any by default (which, in itself, is bad)

                we probably don't talk about the same phase of encryption, you seams focusing on the message (which obviously it is important) and I'm talking about the transfer

                anyway good thing this forum is encrypted by a SSL 😛

                mehdiM 1 Reply Last reply
                0
                • JOduMonTJ JOduMonT

                  @mehdi said in Best privacy chat apps:

                  I don't know about Telegram's encryption, I never looked into it. I just know they don't use any by default (which, in itself, is bad)

                  we probably don't talk about the same phase of encryption, you seams focusing on the message (which obviously it is important) and I'm talking about the transfer

                  anyway good thing this forum is encrypted by a SSL 😛

                  mehdiM Offline
                  mehdiM Offline
                  mehdi
                  App Dev
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #48

                  @jodumont This table seems to be either outdated severly, or just plain wrong. Whatsapp does use end-to-end encryption, and has been using it for years.

                  JOduMonTJ 1 Reply Last reply
                  2
                  • mehdiM mehdi

                    @jodumont This table seems to be either outdated severly, or just plain wrong. Whatsapp does use end-to-end encryption, and has been using it for years.

                    JOduMonTJ Offline
                    JOduMonTJ Offline
                    JOduMonT
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #49

                    @mehdi said in Best privacy chat apps:

                    This table seems to be either outdated severly

                    fair enough 🙂

                    1 Reply Last reply
                    0
                    • jdaviescoatesJ Offline
                      jdaviescoatesJ Offline
                      jdaviescoates
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #50

                      I came across a couple of nice chat comparisons recently.

                      First of all there is this nice infographic by niboe.info

                      compare_chat.png

                      Sadly I've been unable to find an English version of the other nice infographic in this accompanying article of theirs in Spanish.

                      I also came across this handy table from DivestOS (a privacy focused Android distribution):

                      https://divestos.org/index.php?page=messengers

                      Both of these make we wish Cloudron had an XMPP server like ejabberd so we could get our friends to try out Conversations and Movim (I mean, both Yunohost and HomeLabsOS have an XMPP server, and they are both fully open source and run by volunteers - whereas Cloudron is the one with a business model and full time paid @staff - and yet they've got XMPP and we don't! 😛 )

                      I use Cloudron with Gandi & Hetzner

                      JOduMonTJ robiR 2 Replies Last reply
                      4
                      • jdaviescoatesJ jdaviescoates

                        I came across a couple of nice chat comparisons recently.

                        First of all there is this nice infographic by niboe.info

                        compare_chat.png

                        Sadly I've been unable to find an English version of the other nice infographic in this accompanying article of theirs in Spanish.

                        I also came across this handy table from DivestOS (a privacy focused Android distribution):

                        https://divestos.org/index.php?page=messengers

                        Both of these make we wish Cloudron had an XMPP server like ejabberd so we could get our friends to try out Conversations and Movim (I mean, both Yunohost and HomeLabsOS have an XMPP server, and they are both fully open source and run by volunteers - whereas Cloudron is the one with a business model and full time paid @staff - and yet they've got XMPP and we don't! 😛 )

                        JOduMonTJ Offline
                        JOduMonTJ Offline
                        JOduMonT
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #51

                        maybe me, but personally I make a difference when you are able to generate or add your own key to encrypt versus the "platform" provide you the public and private key

                        mehdiM 1 Reply Last reply
                        0
                        • JOduMonTJ JOduMonT

                          maybe me, but personally I make a difference when you are able to generate or add your own key to encrypt versus the "platform" provide you the public and private key

                          mehdiM Offline
                          mehdiM Offline
                          mehdi
                          App Dev
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #52

                          @jodumont The key is always generated on your own device. There is zero reason to allow users to import an external key. If you don't trust the local app to correctly generate a keypair, you have no reason to trust it to correctly perform the encryption. So importing a key brings nothing.

                          1 Reply Last reply
                          0
                          • jdaviescoatesJ jdaviescoates

                            I came across a couple of nice chat comparisons recently.

                            First of all there is this nice infographic by niboe.info

                            compare_chat.png

                            Sadly I've been unable to find an English version of the other nice infographic in this accompanying article of theirs in Spanish.

                            I also came across this handy table from DivestOS (a privacy focused Android distribution):

                            https://divestos.org/index.php?page=messengers

                            Both of these make we wish Cloudron had an XMPP server like ejabberd so we could get our friends to try out Conversations and Movim (I mean, both Yunohost and HomeLabsOS have an XMPP server, and they are both fully open source and run by volunteers - whereas Cloudron is the one with a business model and full time paid @staff - and yet they've got XMPP and we don't! 😛 )

                            robiR Offline
                            robiR Offline
                            robi
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #53

                            @jdaviescoates time to host an event, start packaging and get help finishing it! 🙂

                            Conscious tech

                            jdaviescoatesJ 1 Reply Last reply
                            1
                            • robiR robi

                              @jdaviescoates time to host an event, start packaging and get help finishing it! 🙂

                              jdaviescoatesJ Offline
                              jdaviescoatesJ Offline
                              jdaviescoates
                              wrote on last edited by jdaviescoates
                              #54

                              @robi I've often thought of learning to code. I loved maths as a kid. But now isn't the time. 🙂

                              I use Cloudron with Gandi & Hetzner

                              robiR 1 Reply Last reply
                              0
                              • jdaviescoatesJ jdaviescoates

                                @robi I've often thought of learning to code. I loved maths as a kid. But now isn't the time. 🙂

                                robiR Offline
                                robiR Offline
                                robi
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #55

                                @jdaviescoates there's no real coding involved.. it's mostly stitching things together and adjusting configs. You'll have help too.

                                Conscious tech

                                1 Reply Last reply
                                1
                                • marcusquinnM Offline
                                  marcusquinnM Offline
                                  marcusquinn
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #56

                                  Looks like Signal App's addition of payments using MobileCoin ($MOB) has struck a raw nerve with many.

                                  Another alternative that seems to come up regularly on the comments underneath their Tweets is this Session App:

                                  • https://getsession.org

                                  YMMV but another one for the list and your esteemed critique.

                                  Web Design https://www.evergreen.je
                                  Development https://brandlight.org
                                  Life https://marcusquinn.com

                                  jdaviescoatesJ 1 Reply Last reply
                                  2
                                  • marcusquinnM marcusquinn

                                    Looks like Signal App's addition of payments using MobileCoin ($MOB) has struck a raw nerve with many.

                                    Another alternative that seems to come up regularly on the comments underneath their Tweets is this Session App:

                                    • https://getsession.org

                                    YMMV but another one for the list and your esteemed critique.

                                    jdaviescoatesJ Offline
                                    jdaviescoatesJ Offline
                                    jdaviescoates
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #57

                                    @marcusquinn see also Snikket which seems like a great option too (and gets my vote for the XMPP that ought to be first added to Cloudron).

                                    I use Cloudron with Gandi & Hetzner

                                    1 Reply Last reply
                                    1
                                    • ? Offline
                                      ? Offline
                                      A Former User
                                      wrote on last edited by A Former User
                                      #58

                                      I'd still take Matrix over all of those for its decentralized and federated nature. It is incredibly secure and their Element client has truly come a long way. I would love to see Snikket and Oragono though. I tried packaging Oragono but lost the motivation part way through as I usually do.

                                      But my vote for matrix comes in here: Me and a friend could both have our own homeservers and still chat in a secure manner. If we're talking privacy, I'd say its at the top for sure.

                                      jdaviescoatesJ 1 Reply Last reply
                                      5
                                      • ? A Former User

                                        I'd still take Matrix over all of those for its decentralized and federated nature. It is incredibly secure and their Element client has truly come a long way. I would love to see Snikket and Oragono though. I tried packaging Oragono but lost the motivation part way through as I usually do.

                                        But my vote for matrix comes in here: Me and a friend could both have our own homeservers and still chat in a secure manner. If we're talking privacy, I'd say its at the top for sure.

                                        jdaviescoatesJ Offline
                                        jdaviescoatesJ Offline
                                        jdaviescoates
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #59

                                        @atrilahiji true, although I find Matrix to still be somewhat of a UX nightmare. It's often very confusing, even for geeky people.

                                        I use Cloudron with Gandi & Hetzner

                                        ? 1 Reply Last reply
                                        0
                                        • jdaviescoatesJ jdaviescoates

                                          @atrilahiji true, although I find Matrix to still be somewhat of a UX nightmare. It's often very confusing, even for geeky people.

                                          ? Offline
                                          ? Offline
                                          A Former User
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #60

                                          @jdaviescoates I mean, I wouldn't say I'm an expert in UX so I can't speak to that but I can say that for me I found it fairly intuitive. I know that this may not be everyone's experience though.

                                          I also am wary of UX issues or incredibly pretty apps sometimes because I find that a lot of apps seem to go 110% in on beautiful and intuitive UI while compromising on core functionality.

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