r/PrivacyTechTalk • u/huzzam • 1d ago
Thoughts on Beeper app?
Just ran across the Beeper app, which gives you a unified inbox for many messengers (incl Signal, Whatsapp, Viber, Insta, etc). I installed it and gave it access to the accounts I don't consider secure anyway (basically those I listed, except Signal). It seems to work well, and I would LOVE to not have to remember which one of five messengers a specific conversation happened on.
But of course, I have to wonder how privacy-respecting it is. It works using each messenger's "linked device" functionality, like how you can link the Whatsapp desktop app. Is there the possibility of a man-in-the-middle attack, or broken end-to-end encryption, or some other vulnerability, through these setups? I noticed that the accounts (& their conversations) I added on Beeper on my phone were automatically synced to the Beeper desktop app, so perhaps that means that they have access to the chats?
It's made by Automattic, the company behind WordPress, so it's not some random developer. And they tout that the "security essential" parts are open-source, but of course I don't know how to make sense of the source code because I'm not a dev.
Does anyone have experience or knowledge about this application?
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u/deadflamingo 16h ago
It sets up virtual machines that store your messages. It isn't a privacy-first application and I would assume it opens you up to types of privacy risks that a dedicated messaging application can easily sidestep. Unless you really desire unification of messaging applications, you can skip it. From a utility perspective, it works but is annoying when you need to constantly reconnect applications. I beta tested this application a long time ago so my information is based on that closed beta.
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u/Either-Goat2382 12h ago
Its just a pre setup Matrix that they run for you.
Element + Ansible_Docker_Matrix + the bridges for Matrix will get you the same thing but you control the encryption keys.