December 2025. Anyone in the world can send free[^1], private, encrypted messages to anybody else, via iMessage, Signal, WhatsApp, Telegram, etc.
Perhaps that platform has a government backdoor[^2], or an employee is a mole[^3].
The organization might claim this risk is mitigated due to "e2ee" or "zero knowledge" or "trusted execution environments" or "hardware secure elements". All of these promises are reassuring and good!
In 2025, we now have tech that enables ephemeral messages to be sent extremely securely, without relying on a trusted server at any stage, using only open, battle-hardened cryptography and internet protocols.
Previously, without relying on a centralized server, it has been very hard to provide three features that people are used to relying on:
- availability and historical record
- identity
- ability to ping or notify someone that there is something for them[^4]
Gossip-y local-first sync engines solve this, while preserving full sovereignty. No blockchain required, al...
