Every Pralaap chat is end-to-end encrypted, but one-to-one chats and group chats use different systems. Here is how each works.
One-to-one chats: the Signal Protocol
Encryption is easy to get subtly wrong, and the mistakes stay invisible until someone exploits them. For one-to-one chats we chose the Signal Protocol, a design that has been studied in public for years, instead of inventing our own.
- Only you and the person you're chatting with can read a message.
- Keys change as the conversation moves on, so a key stolen today can't unlock yesterday's messages.
- We hold no keys, so there is nothing for us to read, hand over or sell.
Group chats: our own system
Group chats work differently, so we designed our own end-to-end encryption for them. Group messages are encrypted on your phone before they leave it, and we can't read them.
A system we designed ourselves hasn't had the years of public scrutiny the Signal Protocol has, and we think you should know that.
What encryption can't do
Encryption protects messages in transit and on servers. It can't protect a phone that someone else can unlock, so keep a screen lock on.
Privacy isn't a feature. It's a promise.