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

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 โ€” 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 โ†’ 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 most of that to every other server whose users are in the room. Your "social footprint" isn't one copy โ€” it's as many as there are servers.

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[-] gary_host_laptop@lemmy.ml 2 points 21 hours ago

i have been convinced. what do you think it's a better implementation? simplex?

this post was submitted on 11 Sep 2026
12 points (87.5% liked)

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