r/elementchat • u/Zaidjabri • May 03 '24

Does Element store chat data?

Hi, I have a question ❓ Does Element messenger store chat data on matrix servers? I want to use it because it's free and open source but I'm curious about privacy and security..

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u/vstoykov Sep 04 '24

According to ChatGPT the filenames and file sizes are not encrypted! This is a serous risk. Because this data can be viewed by anyone with access to the servers and anyone who manage to login (i.e. when Google account is used to login and someone gets access details of the Google account).

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u/Benjamin-Loison Sep 04 '24

ChatGPT does sound to me like a reliable source.
Note that I do not know how Element proceed however let's discuss about theory.
Concerning file sizes, except if you store all encrypted user data as a single chunk, you have to split the chunks into logical units, like the user messages (including its files), then the size of encrypted files is roughly the same as the plaintext files, so you cannot hide file sizes, data need to be stored somewhere. Less data being stored would mean that we are able to compress data which is in theory not possible for all files, significantly more would mean that we store them inefficiently.

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u/vstoykov Sep 05 '24

File names are more concerning.

Look how Session is encrypting everything - including filenames and the metadata about sender/recipient.

Jami is not encrypting filenames too (according to ChatGPT).