Have you seen this news?
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>I think it's good to give people the privacy they need
To be super clear, so do I. I just don't want to be the person giving it to them.
>Would you be more inclined to support E2EE on a server where you control who uses it, like mastodon.iftas.org?
Me personally, no, I will trust my highly-sensitive data to a very focussed, reputable org that does this for a living.
(I honestly don't remember who hosts that server. Every once in a while I have to go look it up.)
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@evan @benpate I'll put tongue firmly in cheek and ask you if you would recommend to a dear friend that they should use E2EE services to preserve the privacy of their most sensitive data from a company whose privacy policy is uncertain which country the service is located in, and doesn't publish any terms of service?
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@evan @benpate I'll put tongue firmly in cheek and ask you if you would recommend to a dear friend that they should use E2EE services to preserve the privacy of their most sensitive data from a company whose privacy policy is uncertain which country the service is located in, and doesn't publish any terms of service?
@jaz @benpate I don't understand who you are talking about. IFTAS, SWF, cosocial.ca, Emissary, toot.wales, Mastodon? Also using technology from that company, or preserving privacy from that company?
I think users should use E2EE messaging for as many conversations as they can. Using encryption technology that is open source, reviewed by security pros, and based on open standards is the best.
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Have you seen this news?
#Mastodon just got funding to add end to end encryption into their software.
So, some time next year, you’ll be able to send truly private messages to the vast majority of the #Fediverse
Im so excited about this.
Because it’s an open spec, this opens the doors for every Fediverse app to join the party.
Yesterday, this project was a proof of concept. Today, Mastodon has turned it into a stampede.
https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2026/04/sovereign-tech-agency-funding/
E2E encryption is great. Not including that from the start was a glaring oversight.
As for the other changes, well.. Mastodon the platform that sells itself on de-centralization is moving towards.. centralization. I have long said that Mastodon is just Telegram, if Telegram were designed by a group of idiots.
The euros in the fediverse seem dead set on making Mastodon a premier censorship platform.
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@jaz @benpate I don't understand who you are talking about. IFTAS, SWF, cosocial.ca, Emissary, toot.wales, Mastodon? Also using technology from that company, or preserving privacy from that company?
I think users should use E2EE messaging for as many conversations as they can. Using encryption technology that is open source, reviewed by security pros, and based on open standards is the best.
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@jaz @benpate I don't understand who you are talking about. IFTAS, SWF, cosocial.ca, Emissary, toot.wales, Mastodon? Also using technology from that company, or preserving privacy from that company?
I think users should use E2EE messaging for as many conversations as they can. Using encryption technology that is open source, reviewed by security pros, and based on open standards is the best.
I'm suggesting that a company, any company, whose privacy policy states "if this server is in jurisdiction X then certain things apply, but if not, then maybe something else" /and/ does not provide a terms of service, whosoever that company may be, they would not be my first choice for trusting them with my highly-sensitive messages, and nor would the software they may have created and distributed to keep those messages safe.
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@evan @benpate 100%, you should get to do whatever you want to do for your family, colleagues, or 15,000 person server (if that's your desire).
My original reply is in reference to the original post about E2EE being added to Mastodon, which has has historically kind of sort of not been super great on the admin-gets-to-choose front, so I'm on record now saying make it optional for admins, or I have to pass the torch.
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Have you seen this news?
#Mastodon just got funding to add end to end encryption into their software.
So, some time next year, you’ll be able to send truly private messages to the vast majority of the #Fediverse
Im so excited about this.
Because it’s an open spec, this opens the doors for every Fediverse app to join the party.
Yesterday, this project was a proof of concept. Today, Mastodon has turned it into a stampede.
https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2026/04/sovereign-tech-agency-funding/
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First, I'd just like to say that the notification summary on my phone read "Ben Pate ruins communication with..." and I said oh god, what has that asshole done now...
To be serious:
Yes and no. You obviously can't have E2EE if one side can't run actual software. Those platforms might manage keys and decrypt for you on the server, but that kind of breaks the spirit of E2EE.
More likely, those platforms would just not publish encryption keys, and continue sending plaintext messages.
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Have you seen this news?
#Mastodon just got funding to add end to end encryption into their software.
So, some time next year, you’ll be able to send truly private messages to the vast majority of the #Fediverse
Im so excited about this.
Because it’s an open spec, this opens the doors for every Fediverse app to join the party.
Yesterday, this project was a proof of concept. Today, Mastodon has turned it into a stampede.
https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2026/04/sovereign-tech-agency-funding/
@benpate I love that almost immediately after the announcement of potentially adding E2EE support there are a whole lot of posts saying "how dare they give us encryption!"
Like even if you have... some kind of bugaboo about it, it doesn't hurt you if it's there... It does, however, help protect a lot of users.
(And I'll never understand the "first fix absolutely everything else before adding anything new!" mentality. A. people can do two things at once, that's one of the great things about having more than one person working on a thing and B. there will always be something else that needs fixing. That is the nature of reality and imperfect things... If everything else must be fixed first, nothing would ever get done. Literally. We'd still be trying to perfect pointy sticks.)
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@benpate I love that almost immediately after the announcement of potentially adding E2EE support there are a whole lot of posts saying "how dare they give us encryption!"
Like even if you have... some kind of bugaboo about it, it doesn't hurt you if it's there... It does, however, help protect a lot of users.
(And I'll never understand the "first fix absolutely everything else before adding anything new!" mentality. A. people can do two things at once, that's one of the great things about having more than one person working on a thing and B. there will always be something else that needs fixing. That is the nature of reality and imperfect things... If everything else must be fixed first, nothing would ever get done. Literally. We'd still be trying to perfect pointy sticks.)
So true, and I’m so glad you said this. I’ve been holding back on so many super-snarky replies that I really shouldn’t post publicly 😇
The biggest thing I’m seeing is fear.. fear of change, and fear of the unknown.
No, the E2EE solution we’re building isn’t perfect (nothing is) but it’s been vetted by some very smart people who care deeply about getting this right.
So, most of the hot takes dissipate once you clarify the questions and alleviate the fear.
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Have you seen this news?
#Mastodon just got funding to add end to end encryption into their software.
So, some time next year, you’ll be able to send truly private messages to the vast majority of the #Fediverse
Im so excited about this.
Because it’s an open spec, this opens the doors for every Fediverse app to join the party.
Yesterday, this project was a proof of concept. Today, Mastodon has turned it into a stampede.
https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2026/04/sovereign-tech-agency-funding/
@benpate I'm reminded of an old adage, Zawinski's Law: "Every program attempts to expand until it can read mail. Those programs which cannot so expand are replaced by ones which can." I've always thought it was stupid. Not the law. The fact that it happens. I already have perfectly good messaging systems, I don't need another one. Can't programs just stick to doing what they do well and let other programs do what they do well?
I already have RCS, Signal, WhatsApp, Instagram, oh and E-mail ... -
Done, no AI used so criticism is welcome:
https://pen.waltuh.cyou/autumn/the-social-web-foundation-adds-end-to-end-encryption-to-mastodon-and-why-this@rusty__shackleford @sampler @benpate
Great read! Thanks for taking the time to write and share
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@evan @benpate 100%, you should get to do whatever you want to do for your family, colleagues, or 15,000 person server (if that's your desire).
My original reply is in reference to the original post about E2EE being added to Mastodon, which has has historically kind of sort of not been super great on the admin-gets-to-choose front, so I'm on record now saying make it optional for admins, or I have to pass the torch.
Ok, I'm confused. What are your concerns exactly about E2EE in the fediverse? Is it added complexity for server admins?
As an user living through this period of the internet I barely see a reason why I wouldn't want E2EE for anything with direct personal communication. In fact I choose services exactly for that.
Shouldn't good E2EE be able to operate securely especially under hostile conditions? And is that not the point of open standards to do so?
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@rusty__shackleford @sampler @benpate
Great read! Thanks for taking the time to write and share
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