Matrix

416 readers

17 users here now

The secure messaging protocol.

founded 2 years ago

MODERATORS

vexomet@programming.dev

Sunshine@programming.dev

Sunshine@piefed.ca

-1

Matrix Metadata Problem: the server sees everything except your messages (dfrws.org)

submitted 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) by verifytheposter@leminal.space to c/matrix@programming.dev

9 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Matrix Metadata Problem: the server sees everything except your messages

People pick Matrix because of end-to-end encryption. But E2EE only protects message content — everything around it is plaintext.

The server sees:

Your ID, IP, client type and version, device you use
Your presence, typing status, read receipts
Which rooms you join and when you join/leave
Who else is in those rooms → your entire social graph
Room names, topics, avatars (all plaintext state)
For every message: who sent it, which room, a millisecond timestamp, type, size

And federation copies all of that to every other server whose users are in the room. Your "social footprint" isn't one copy — it's as many as there are servers.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] who@feddit.org 3 points 16 hours ago* (last edited 15 hours ago)

Having implemented parts of the Matrix protocol myself, based on the spec, I can say this without a doubt: This "paper" is a sloppy, misleading, confused mess. Spreading it around does a disservice to the community.

Matrix has plenty of room for improvement, but that doesn't mean it should be avoided. It offers a unique and very useful set of features, and its security model is already good enough for a great many people's day-to-day needs. And it is improving, little by little. I expect improvements would come faster if more organizations donated money to the project.