SMS
Your carrier logs who you text and when — retained anywhere from 60 days to 7 years. In the US, law enforcement can pull that metadata with a subpoena, no warrant required.
Source: ACLU / DOJ retention chart →Work in progress — proof of concept verified. The v1 specification and reference apps are being prepared.
Deep dive — back to Priver home
The threat
The threat
model.
How every mainstream messenger leaks your data, why the EU's Chat Control breaks them all, and what Priver's architecture does differently. Every claim on this page is sourced.
- Servers
- 0
- Phone numbers
- None
- Transport
- Tor
- License
- Open
The problem
Every message you've ever sent
Every message you've ever sent
has passed through someone else's hands.
Already read, or readable tomorrow. Not maybe. Not possibly. Certainly.
Google stopped scanning Gmail for ad targeting in 2017 — but their systems still process every message for spam filtering, search, and Smart Compose. Microsoft does the same. Indexed. Retained. Readable.
Source: NPR (2017) →Owned by Meta. Message bodies are end-to-end encrypted — but a leaked 2021 FBI document shows WhatsApp hands over metadata in near real time: who you talk to, when, and your address book. And Meta sells attention for a living.
Source: Rolling Stone / leaked FBI doc →Telegram
Not end-to-end encrypted by default. Cloud chats sit on Telegram's servers — encrypted, but with keys Telegram holds. After their CEO's arrest in France (2024), Telegram now hands IP addresses and phone numbers to law enforcement on valid legal requests.
Source: CNN →iMessage
Backed up to iCloud by default — where Apple holds the keys and can hand it over. "Advanced Data Protection" (opt-in since Dec 2022) closes this gap, but most users never enable it.
Source: Apple iCloud data security overview →Signal
The gold standard — until now. Still relies on centralized servers. Still requires a phone number to register. Those servers can be subpoenaed; Signal publishes every request it receives. And there's a new threat coming.
Source: signal.org/bigbrother →Threema
Doesn't require a phone number, apps are open source — good. But still runs on centralized servers in Switzerland. Still a company. Still a single point that can be compelled, hacked, or shut down.
Source: Threema (open source) →Wire
End-to-end encrypted, open source — but stores your contact graph on their servers. Metadata is exposed. Wire is a company with investors, meaning it answers to someone.
Source: Wikipedia / Motherboard (contact graph) →Briar
Genuinely P2P, genuinely private. Android and desktop (Linux, Windows, macOS). No iOS, and the developers say none is planned. A tool for the few, not the many.
Source: Briar download page →The pattern is clear. Every messenger you've heard of has a server. Every server has an owner. Every owner can be forced.
Pending legislation
The EU Chat Control regulation.
The proposed EU "CSA Regulation" — widely known as Chat Control — would require every messaging platform operating in Europe, including Signal, WhatsApp, iMessage and Telegram, to scan private messages for prohibited content. Negotiations between EU institutions are ongoing into 2026.
- →End-to-end encryption? Broken by design.
- →Your private conversations? No longer private.
Signal's president: "We will leave the EU market rather than undermine our privacy guarantees."
Source: Meredith Whittaker (May 2024) →
WhatsApp's head Will Cathcart: the proposal "would do away with end-to-end encryption as we know it."
Source: EFF explainer →
Current status: Chat Control 1.0's voluntary-scanning derogation expired 3 April 2026. Chat Control 2.0 remains under trilogue negotiation. Background (Patrick Breyer MEP) →
Which leaves you with nothing.
Unless you have Priver.
The solution
Priver is built different.
Priver is built different.
Fundamentally different.
Not "we promise we don't look." Not "trust us." Not "we're a nonprofit."
-
There is no server to subpoena.
-
There is no company that holds your data.
-
There is no one to comply — because there is no one in between.
How it works
No accounts. No phone numbers.
Your identity is a cryptographic key pair generated on your device. Nobody issues it. Nobody can revoke it. Nobody knows it exists.
No central servers.
Messages travel directly from your device to theirs — through Tor, which hides your IP, your location, and the fact that you're communicating at all.
End-to-end encrypted with Signal Protocol.
The same Double Ratchet algorithm used by Signal — but without Signal's servers. Every message gets a unique key. Past messages stay safe even if your device is compromised today.
Decentralized discovery.
Finding another Priver user doesn't require a directory. It uses a distributed hash table — the same technology that powers BitTorrent — with no central point that can be shut down or seized.
Open source. Always.
Every line of code is public. Any researcher, security expert, or curious developer can verify exactly what Priver does and doesn't do. No black boxes. No trust required.
By design, not by promise.
Privacy isn't a marketing claim — it's the architecture. Take any link out and the system still respects you.
The comparison
What others can't promise.
What others can't promise.
What Priver does by design.
| Capability | SMS | Telegram | Signal | Threema | Wire | Briar | Priver | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| End-to-end encrypted | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ | ! | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| No central servers | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ |
| No phone number required | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| IP address hidden | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ |
| iOS + Android support | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✕ | ✓ |
| Cannot comply with Chat Control | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Open source protocol | ✕ | ✓ | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Self-hostable | ✕ | ✓ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ |
! Telegram is end-to-end encrypted only in opt-in "Secret Chats" — not by default.
How it's built
Three layers.
Three layers.
Zero compromise.
Layer 01
Specification
Priver Protocol
The open standard. Published under an open license. Anyone can implement it, audit it, build on it. A communication protocol designed for the post-Chat-Control world.
Layer 02
Reference client
Priver App
The reference implementation. Available for iOS, Android, and desktop. Simple enough for anyone. Secure enough for everyone.
Layer 03
Federated bridge
Priver Gateway
The self-hosted bridge for iOS push notifications. Because Apple requires a server to wake up sleeping apps — we made it open source, federated, and operated by the community. You can run your own. The gateway never sees your messages. It only knocks on the door.
Who it's for
Priver is for everyone who has ever
Priver is for everyone who has ever
assumed their messages were private.
Journalists
protecting sources.
Lawyers
communicating with clients.
Activists
organizing in countries that criminalize dissent.
Businesses
discussing deals that can't leak.
Families
who just want to talk without being a product.
And everyone in between. Privacy isn't a feature for the paranoid. It's a right for everyone.
Open protocol
Built to outlast
Built to outlast
any company —
including us.
Priver is a protocol, not a platform. Like email, like HTTP, like TCP/IP — it doesn't belong to anyone. It can't be bought, shut down, or forced to comply.
The specification is public. The code is open. The network is distributed.
If Jetlio disappeared tomorrow, Priver would continue. Other developers would build clients. Other operators would run gateways. The protocol lives independently of the organization that created it.
That's the point.
Spec
Public
Code
Open
Network
Distributed
Get Priver
Start talking privately.
Download Priver for iOS, Android, or desktop. Or read the protocol specification.
Developed by Jetlio. Owned by no one.