Basically I am looking for a messaging platform like signal or? but with anonymous signup, perfect forward secrecy, capable of video chat, sending photos the usual uses in today’s life. But with a panic button. So that any party member could use said button to wipe all other members devices of any data instantly inside the messaging app. So if one member gets compromised, or lost their device, stolen device ect, any other member could wipe all chats, call log, and any other data strictly inside the messaging client instantly for everyone involved. Disolving the group like it never existed rendering the data unrecoverable. Amazons Wickr used to have most of these features but it is being discontinued December 2023 and who trusts amazon with their data. Does something like this exist? Sorry if I’m not explaining it well I’ll do my best to clarify and update this post. I am not trying to delete the whole device. Just the data inside the messaging app. If that does not exist. What about a separate app that could delete the entire messaging platform from the device when triggered. Assume all necessary requirements are met and this is for daily use. Between a group of trusted parties.
Updated wording to clarify the objective as replies where getting misunderstood.
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I mean theoretically if you are hosting your own chat server, for example on Matrix, you can easily make all the chats unaccessible from the clients by issuing a command to shutdown your server or simply the chat server service if there’s no content cached locally.
I think you can do this pretty easily with a raspberry pi by connecting via ssh…
Just use a shell script that changes the static ip to something else after the command to shutdown the service/wipe out the data (depending on what your goal is) has been issued, or use a vpn or something like that if possible, because anyone issuing the command would need to know your server ip.
And issuing a command by ssh to a remote server both from smartphone or pc should be as easy that you can actually build a very small app for that, or use some app that creates shortcuts that directly connects and issue custom commands.
That way you are forced to give people your new ip every time chats become unaccessible/deleted and someone can’t connect back even if wanting to without talking to you, unless you decide you can use the older ip for whatever reason.
Of course not using your real ip but using some service like a vpn or proxy (or tor?) would be much better here, but i don’t really know how.
That can give you full power on the chat history and create the said “panic button” for every client involved.
Wouldn’t chats be stored locally though? So even if the service was shutdown the app and its local contents would remain. Or does the service load chats after connecting to the home server, then your scenario plays correctly. Matrix doesn’t offer ephemeral messaging which would be a stop gap in this case if stored locally. I’m not familiar with Matrix.
There’s no way to prevent someone from retaining data once they have it. The clients would have to voluntarily cooperate.
Are there matrix clients that do this? Only fetch messages from server when needed and not store locally?
I guess probably, because Matrix is thought for private chatting, i guess someone else might have had this same idea, i think matrix is opensource so there must be some client that does this.
Even if there is, though, that would only affect you and the messages you read. If you sent it to others, they could still do what they wanted with it.
If a device is recovered by authorities or stolen by spies, assume you’ll never get a signal to it before the flash storage is dumped, possibly with the decryption key as well. It’s trivial to put a phone into a Faraday cage and cut off all communication.
In theory you could have an app that tries to wipe itself when it detects a complete lack of signal, but then you’re one annoyingly long power outage away from losing all of your messages.
Remote wipe is available for Google and Apple devices and will wipe all data, not just messenger data. The device owner needs to log in and click the wipe button and that’s the best you can hope for.
On Android you could use work profiles to give a group of people remote access to a “work profile” manager which will let you wipe the apps remotely through Google’s API. That will leave some details intact (everything outside the work profile most likely) but it’ll work for any chat app inside such a profile.
I’m not sure of Apple’s MDM features allow for the same capabilities, but it’s worth looking into.
I hate relying on anything big corp for privacy. Thanks for the reply and I’ll keep this in mind. It seems so far matrix chat is the only e2e chat that can remove the conversation from an individuals device once their removed from a room. I will have to do deeper research into matrix to see it it fits my use cases. I’m just not sure how it stacks up against other big name chat platforms as far as security/privacy goes. I’ve heard of it before. Never deep dived into the data.
I would recommend reading up on Matrix if you’re going to use it in some kind of oppressive regime or whatever. E2EE works but compared to alternatives like Signal it sends a LOT of plaintext metadata.
I believe there used to be alternative solutions for dealing with MDM and remote wipes, but I’m not sure if that’s still allowed with modern API protections. Prey used to offer a kill switch, but I don’t think they still do on mobile devices. Perhaps there are others, I’m not very familiar with these apps. They mostly target businesses and business owned devices, but perhaps you could look for something that still offers a data wipe feature.
Its my understanding the metadata is only stored on the home server that runs for the clients, so under a self host scenario the hoster would be the only party that could access such metadata. One big con to Matrix is that it lacks ephemeral messaging so I’m not sure if chat history is stored on client side once the server goes offline? I cannot find an answer through browser search or documentation. Couldn’t the hosted server be restarted anytime and it would essentially delete the metadata generated each cycle and chat history as well because the chat room would be deleted? Or ran inside say persistent Tails and with a device shutdown or unplug all data would be wiped due to its ram only nature while persistence only keeps the base setup of matrix not a full carbon copy so a new chat would be generated each power cycle. Similar to VPN services running on ram. Thoughts anyone?
User account data is stored on the homeserver, yes, but the plaintext metadata that gets transmitted to every other server will allow an attacker to deduce what people are talking to what other people how often in what rooms, and in some cases it’ll also leak metadata like “this message is a reply to thst other message”.
There’s no technical requirement for storing all data on the client device (in theory you could write a slow client that will download messages every time) but in most clients the messages get stored in a local database. E2EE search requires a local database that gets indexed on the client side.
Restarting the server without old rooms will trigger failure states in clients. The rooms may be gone on the server but they will still be known on the client, and how the client deals with that isn’t reliably specified. The UI may or may not hide the rooms, but I have no idea if the underlying database is actually cleared when that happens. You wouldn’t want your entire account to get cleared our when the server admin mistypes the path to a key file during maintenance, so I’m guessing the data is kept for the same amount of time it takes for a server key to get invalidated (days).
There have been prototypes of peer to peer Matrix setups, where every phone runs its own server, but those lack your panic button requirement.
It’s not finished yet, but in terms of forensic protection and privacy perhaps something like Veilid Chat serves your needs better. It’ll work peer to peer over a network with Tor-like security.
On Android you could also try finding apps that work with Ripple which is intended to be a panic button other apps can integrate with (though you’ll have to grab it from F-Droid because it hasn’t been updates for ages). Perhaps you can convince the Veilid devs or Matrix devs to integrate with Ripple? I don’t know how open they would be to your use case, you may need to write the code yourself.
Best I can suggest is keybase with an auto destroy message timer on conversations, so anything after a day or week is automatically wiped
This is called ephemeral messaging. A good feature of many apps. But doesn’t serve the same purpose for which I am asking. Thanks for mentioning another option other than the usual messenger apps. This is the description for others copied from a basic browser search.
Keybase is a key directory that maps social media identities to encryption keys (including, but not limited to PGP keys) in a publicly auditable manner. Additionally it offers an end-to-end encrypted chat and cloud storage system, called Keybase Chat and the Keybase Filesystem respectively.
Website here for those interested in reading about it -> https://keybase.io
Keybase is now the most sketchy product in existence, on account of it getting bought out by Zoom and going silent about updates since then… And even from the beginning, having a website track your identity across multiple other websites was never particularly helpful
This part about the zoom acquisition is true, but to date no sketchy things have been committed to the client repos, they’re open source
Personally I think the acquisition was to disrupt development, not to hijack it. You’re right that dev work essentially stopped at that time, outside of security fixes.
Also, it doesn’t track you, it allows you to post public proofs so you can choose to let the people you connect with verify your identify. It’s not mandatory.
First things first, there is no app like you describe. You have to take my word for it. Let’s say a certain country’s law enforcement might be very interested in taking to me if it knew role in certain events.
I examined many messaging and chat platforms, and the closest to what you’re asking for are custom Telegram clients that go a longer way to ensure that TG’s local data gets deleted properly (by default it doesn’t, easy peasy to get data from the local DB, half cleansed chats from 6 months ago pop up in exports or even the UI, etc).”, has a built in double bottom for accounts, etc. An example of what I am talking about is here: https://github.com/wrwrabbit (check the repos yourself).
Secondly, you must understand that when the law enforcement seizes a phone, upon initial quick examination (sometimes using brutality to force you to unlock it), they will shut it down to ensure it is not connected to the Internet. And then criminalists will use a special black box device sold by an Israeli cybersec firm (its name always escapes me, but I think the product might be called Pegasus) to extract all data for offline analysis.
So thirdly, you must not rely on any app that conditionally removes data from a device. You must not entrust your well-being to it. Which leaves you basically the only choice: only ephemeral messaging capabilities which are available only when you are in the app, through the server over which you have full control.
Or your messaging sessions must take place only when you’re in a secure location. And even then you should have a “wipe all button” in case the police come after you unexpectedly.
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Man just settle down that what you are asking for is not available on the market off the shelf.
It’s probably not an open discussion to talk about your actual scenarios.
I think the closest normal use case to your scenario is revocable sexting. Like a shared document folder in bitwarden or whatever that anybody could delete the keys for. So two romantic partners when they part could revoke access.
From a military perspective, your scenario really means you shouldn’t be storing that data at all. If it’s sensitive it shouldn’t be deployed in the field. If one element of an operation is compromised, they should not have any data to expose the rest of the operation. Compartmentalization.
I believe telegram secret chats will let members delete the chat for everyone. But that’s best effort and certainly not something you would want to put your life at stake over. It’s just data hygiene
Many replies here have misconstrued the total objective from my post… Of course someone could screenshot or disconnect their device. I am not looking for a foolproof feature or system. I understand compartmentalization. I do not need scenarios listed where this type of feature is useful. I understand my threat model and this is for a chat messenger not in person. You mention revokable access. But does that still leave the file on the lost,stolen device? Revoking access simply sounds like locking a file with encrypted keys. Thus it still exists on the stolen or lost device. Which means at some point or time future or otherwise a 3rd party could gain access. By all means correct me if I don’t understand.
Using Signal with disappearing messages set to a really short time is probably the closest thing you can get. You can use a VOIP number from Cloaked behind a VPN to sign up anonymously.
You can use matrix/element and if someone loses her phone, you can remove her from the room. The room will disappear from the other phone if it’s connected to the internet
I’ve been interested in looking at matrix due to its decentralyzed nature, and self host capability. But as much as I love to self host certain things. Self hosting isn’t always the shining example its portrayed as. That comes with its own security/privacy flaws. I will do some reading on matrix and learn about the features. Thanks for shedding some light on the actual topic at hand.
Edit for matrix info which can be found here for those wanting to learn more. -> https://matrix.org
You don’t have to selfhost. You can use anyone’s server. It’s all e2e. The social graph may be visible. Selfhosting is easy. Look for an install with docker.
Will do thanks. I don’t care about social graph being visible so long as there isn’t identifiable info during sign up. I’d much rather self host as needed. But what if matrix was self hosted on a hostile network. Under VPN from both sides. Say matrix was running from a hotel WiFi. How would one secure the service.
you can also look into hosted services like EMS but I don’t know if you have to provide identifiable info.
it’s all encrypted on the client -> e2e. even if it was http and no SSL
you have to provide a domain, I’m not sure how easy it would be to run it without and only locally on a LAN. IT’s possible but the experience wont be good. you also can’t federate. It’s much easier to use a hosted server.
the same way like you’d do it with a publicly exposed host.
BUT I think I’d go with p2p matrix before going the LAN route.
Here’s a p2p matrix built https://drive.google.com/drive/mobile/folders/1uK_BcHGiAYHkN6OAA7P73obAquwShRg5
look into the matrix room for more info p2p:matrix.org.
Check out https://gitlab.com/Nulide/findmydevice But it will delete evrrything, I think.
This is actually a really nice project. I will follow this to see how it works. However, this doesn’t follow the original scenario. Close but its only capable of factory resetting the device. Which is nice and useful under some situations. But it does not follow the original scenario. The only next best alternative is something like remote desktop. But that is very overkill and quite finnicky. Doesn’t solve the problem.
Briar has that.
Its my understanding through some quick reading briar doesn’t have a built in panic button. But briar can be configured inside ripple which is similar to what I am looking for. But ripple only triggered by the device user. I am looking for a panic button which can be triggered from outside the device. Brair is only for android as well. While I despise apple, everyone else is drinking the koolaid. When the owner doesn’t have their device, compromised, lost, stolen, ect the device user can’t possibly trigger ripple, its not designed that way. Ripple is very nice though. I’ve used it. But doesn’t fit for the use case I’m asking about.
You can never guarantee that other client’s data will be deleted. Assume that once your data gets sent, it can potentially be archived forever.
The greatest weakness in any Enterprise are the people, not the technology.
You just have to look at all of the people who recorded signal chats in both the ftx, and the Trump trials. As soon as people think they’re in danger, they’re going to look for anything they can use as leverage. They’ll use another phone to take a photo of their first phone.
Even if you communicate with people using ephemeral read once messages, that doesn’t stop them from recording it themselves. There’s no guarantee the data gets deleted on the other end, they could be using a modified client, the desktop app is a horrendous security nightmare, if they view that ephemeral message on the desktop app there’s no guarantee it’s actually deleted.
Depending on your threat model, you can incorporate technology with ephemeral messaging into your use case. But you have to be very clear, about what your threats are, and what your tolerances are.
There’s a reason certain highly sensitive organizations use skifs… Only organics are allowed to go in, and only organics are allowed to leave.
Using scifs is widely known and of course a good addition to certain threat models. But doesn’t account for distance of individuals. My post was inferring distance between parties. That is why I talked about messaging clients and their features. For times when parties cannot possible be in person, also this is for everyday use not one time, I’m asking about a messaging client and feature set. Otherwise very good info here for others to learn and read on. Good post! FYI its worth reading on Pegasus and their zero click infection capabilities and multiple zero day exploits.
…flat bottom open boats? Like, on a lake or something?
They mean scif
Basically a secure office building room where individuals can talk sensitive info
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sensitive_compartmented_information_facility
SCIF not skif, sorry, voice to text typo.
OH lmao.
I understand your point of view. I share that philosophy to some degree. However nothing is a guarantee. But a high degree of certainty is achievable. But that doesn’t answer my question. Is there a messaging platform with a panic button that deletes the chat log and call logs from all user involved which can be triggered from any member.
Edit wording and update. This got downvoted because of a misinterpretation of what I was saying when I said high degree of certainty. All I meant was this isn’t supposed to a fool proof blanket feature and the world doesn’t run on absolutes of course. For instance signal works with a high degree of certainty that youll be secure. I was conveying its highly probable this feature under correct parameters would function correctly. Simply a step in the chain of failsafes. None the less. Thanks for your replies.
I wouldn’t agree with that. Whats stopping the other user screenshotting it? Taking a photo with another device? Or even simply disconnecting from the network so the device can’t even receive the “kill switch command”?
I’ve done this. Turn on airplane mode to read messages without read receipts.
Doesn’t signal do that? I thought they had a wipe as messages are sent like snapchat where if you leave and go back, they’re gone
Note with Snapchat that, it just gets hidden
You can find comments from people where old messages and images start popping back up because of bugs in the app. Snapchat is near the bottom of the barrel when it comes to privacy and security, despite the premise
They have ephemeral messaging where one can set a timer to delete a message when it is read or from the time it was sent. But that isn’t always so easy to gauge with life. Often times a chat log is needed when people don’t check it often or right away. So the group must set a long timer like 24h ect ect. It’s customizable. But if a group members device gets lost or stolen ect. It is of no use. Signal by default stores all call logs in the app. Even if the ephemeral timer is short. Call logs require manual deletion and the group is still formed showing who was in that group but the chat will be empty. Edit was wording.
I think the timer on each device starts from when the person who has the devices sees the message.
So if you send the message and the timer is 5 minutes, the message on your account (on all of your devices) will be deleted in 5 minutes from now, while the recipient will first see the message (maybe in an hour) and then after 5 minutes it will be deleted from their devices too.
100% this. Ephemeral messaging is a data hygiene tool, it is not a secrecy tool
I think that’s per conversation so you have to remember to set it.
It is per conversation but ephemeral messaging is not the same as a panic button. It does not serve the same function or purpose. Which doesn’t answer my question.