I have questions about matrix/element.Does it leak metadata if so what does it leak?I have heard that it only shows who you are talking to but not what you are saying.

  • poVoq
    4•3 years ago

    If you enable end to end encryption (not supported by all Matrix clients) then one can only see who you are talking to but not the content of the message, yes.

    But Matrix leaks a lot of metadata, as chat rooms are decentralized, so they get automatically replicated on every server that has a user connected. Furthermore due to the specific git like design it is not possible to delete this metadata (so called room state) so any server connecting gets the full history of the chat room’s metadata since its creation.

    Personally I would suggest to look into XMPP (aka Jabber). It also supports end to end encryption but the servers share and store much less metadata. Have a look at the XMPP FAQ here: https://joinjabber.org/faqs/

    • TuxOP
      2•3 years ago

      Yea I am using XMPP but was just asking

      • poVoq
        3•3 years ago

        Ah, compared to XMPP with OMEMO enabled there is really hardly any advantage of Matrix in my view. But give it a try and see yourself. Selfhosting Synapse is a PITA though.

        Edit: also once Movim supports OMEMO soon™, then Matrix also does not have the advantage of a nicer webclient anymore ;)

        • TuxOP
          3•3 years ago

          The biggest reason why I asked this is because a privacy advocate The Hated One made a video about how Signal was kinda going downhill and how he was talking about matrix for a little bit but I was thinking “Doesnt matrix leak metadata?”.

          • poVoq
            3•3 years ago

            It really depends on your specific setup and thread model. I think Matrix has its place, but personally prefer XMPP. With Signal you basically hand over all your metadata to the NSA anyways, so you might as well go with Matrix then :p

          • ugh... lo!
            1•3 years ago

            Matrix saves metadata on your server, inside your database and you can disable federation, so only your server will have your data. In such case you are limited to users and groups on your server