Secure Sessions: Send Encrypted Messages, Not Metadata

Communication has gone beyond physical, but the constant hum of digital conversations makes it an attractive target for data leaks and other cybercrimes. With such threats to privacy, people are now demanding impenetrable security — something traditional messaging applications and social media fail to provide.

What is Session App?

Session describes itself as an “end-to-end encrypted messenger that minimizes sensitive metadata, designed and built for people who want absolute privacy and freedom from any form of surveillance.”

The app advocates for privacy-conscious communication. It offers the usual features of a messaging app: one-on-one messaging, group chats, file attachments, and voice calls, but each conversation is reinforced with the same encrypted protections and bundled within an open-source framework.

Total Anonymity

Aside from being a feature-rich app, Session believes that encryption is a necessity for any messaging app. And not just the standard transport encryption you find in a lot of "secure" apps. Encryption should at least be clear, end-to-end, and allow manual configurations in the chat settings.

The genius of Session starts with the simplicity of its ID creation: no phone number or email address required, ensuring the anonymity and security of every conversation.

Session App Benefits

Contrary to other messaging apps, Session does not collect data, not even your IP address, which answers the question of data leaks. No data means there’s nothing to leak.

Let’s talk about some of their tech: The app operates through their decentralized onion routing network, which adds multiple layers of protection. It also has an open-source code, which anyone can access and audit.

A Decentralized Messenger

Send Messages, Not Metadata

Sign-up processes are quick indicators of whether or not an app takes privacy seriously. You are no longer completely anonymous if you have to sign up with identifiable credentials like emails or phone numbers.

Additionally, centralized infrastructure allows these service providers to access huge databases and collect sensitive metadata logged from various user activities. How do we fix that?

Session is the Solution

Session IDs act as public keys, which enable end-to-end encryption and ensure that only the intended recipient can decrypt messages. This key-based contact system eliminates the need for middlemen, providing users confidence in the privacy and security of their messages.

Unlike peer-to-peer messaging apps, Session utilizes the Oxen Service Node Network to allow offline messaging and create a decentralized structure of communication.

What is the Oxen Service Node Network?

The Oxen Service Node Network is composed of community-operated nodes across the globe, which guarantees message delivery and security. The onion-routing of messages through the network adds an extra layer of protection so it is nearly impossible for any node to gather meaningful information about users.

Session’s focus on limiting metadata collection contributes to its censorship-resistant qualities, as individual users remain anonymous in encrypted chats. Open group chats hosted on federated servers also give communities control over moderation policies.

In essence, Session’s design provides users with extreme confidence in the privacy of their messages, ensuring that only the intended recipient has access to message contents, sender, receiver, and timing.

Kairon Labs is happy to learn about industry problems and effective solutions during our Q&A with the Session's team and wish them all the best in launching its solution.