Instant Messaging
Instant messaging (IM) is a technology that allows messages to be transmitted instantly. This article will focus on comparing features and privacy concerns between IM solutions.
IM Solutions
IM can be found in social media apps like Discord, Instagram, Whatsapp, Telegram and many others but its usually thru the use of a protocol. The most common protocol for IM is XMPP, though other options exist like IRC and WebRTC.
Privacy Concerns
On every IM solution there will always be metadata stored on every message, and some might not even have end-to-end encryption, which makes it harder to have a private conversation over the internet.
The table bellow compares the privacy concerns of IM solution. Metadata shared, E2EE, if its federated, if its open source (clients and/or servers)
| Software | E2EE | Federated | License | Metadata |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| XMPP | Optional (OMEMO/PGP) | Yes | Depends on server/client | JID of who send and who received the message message content (can be encrypted) timestamp |
| Matrix | Optional | Yes | Depends on server/client | Matrix IDs Email addresses/phone numbers added to a user’s settings Profile name and avatar of users. Message content |
| Signal | Yes (based on OTR/SCIMP) | No | AGPL-3.0 (spam detection source code not public) | Date of account registration, phone number, date of most recent login, encrypted message body, and the recipient's identifier. |