diff --git a/blog/_posts/2021-08-03-matrix-perfect-privacy-not.md b/blog/_posts/2021-08-03-matrix-perfect-privacy-not.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..58023c6 --- /dev/null +++ b/blog/_posts/2021-08-03-matrix-perfect-privacy-not.md @@ -0,0 +1,132 @@ +--- +layout: post +title: "Inconsistency and privacy issues with Element, Matrix and Synapse" +category: [english] +tags: [english, matrix, privacy] +redirect_from: + - /matrix.html + - /element.html +--- + +*Having used Matrix since 2016 and hearing about its greatness without any + issues so much, I wish to correct some misconceptions. I attempt to provide + citations for everything and not name any other solution. I cannot discuss + administrating experience due to not having any with Matrix personally.* + +# Element, what Element? + +Element is the defacto Matrix client. If you wish to get into Matrix, you +will likely hear the advice to install Element or use it on the web. + +It comes with two problems: + +* you will likely register your account on the `matrix.org` homeserver and + later hear that you made a mistake in using it as it's overloaded and you + should instead use some other homeserver which would also be good for + healthy federation, but the interface doesn't suggest or offer you any + other servers. + * maybe in the future [your account will be decentralized and that won't matter](https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-doc/issues/915)? +* if you happen to be like me and use both Element Web and Element iOS, you + will notice they are wildly inconsistent. I cannot comment on Element + Android as my phone (Nokia 1 / TA-1047) is too weak powered for pleasant + Matrix experience and I don't use it much. + +Comparing the later two platforms, I imagine you will hit some of these +problems sooner or later: + +* You hear of interesting room on another room and you wish to join it. You + touch the name wishing to get into there? What happens instead? You will get + an error message [cannot rejoin an empty room](https://github.com/vector-im/element-ios/issues/1066). + * I hope that doesn't annoy you and you wish to hear the workaround of + running `/join #room:example.net` by hand instead. +* This may be a bit more rare one, but if you share rooms with bots, you may + notice that on Element Web they are more gray than people. [Element iOS just never got messages from bots being rendered differently](https://github.com/vector-im/element-ios/issues/882). +* I may again be a bit weird, but I wish to have [timestamps for all messages visible all the time](https://github.com/vector-im/element-ios/issues/524), + but Element says no. They exist on Web, not on iOS. Same if you [wanted to see seconds](https://github.com/vector-im/element-ios/issues/3901) +* I almost forgot, but the [new spaces](https://element.io/blog/spaces-the-next-frontier/) + just [don't exist on iOS](https://github.com/vector-im/element-ios/issues?q=label%3AA-Spaces+), + should you attempt to join or be invited to one, you will get a banner + saying that they aren't implemented yet and you cannot accept or reject + the invite unless you open Element Web to do that. + +And that is probably enough of annoyances with Element iOS, I hope the +situation will improve in foreseeable future there due to +[Matrix exploding with Element securing $30M funding to revolutionise the app’s usability, build out major new features, expand in the enterprise market and take Matrix fully mainstream!](https://element.io/blog/element-raises-30m-as-matrix-explodes/) + +# You mentioned privacy? + +Yes, privacy is a big reason why Matrix is advertised and the lack of it is +a fact you agree to by using Matrix or getting bridged to Matrix (which is +out of scope for this blog post as it involves other protocols too much, +whether you know Matrix or not). + +As with the internet in general, the most safe assumption is that once you +post something it's there forever. It may be encrypted in a private Matrix +room or it may be public in a public room, but it will most likely be there +forever. + +Matrix does support [history retention if you are advanced enough to enable it](https://brendan.abolivier.bzh/matrix-retention-policies/), +this assumes [your homeserver explicitly enables it as it's not default](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/blob/ba5287f5e8be150551824493b3ad685dde00a543/docs/sample_config.yaml#L481-L484) +and as your room is hosted on every homeserver that has users in your room, +have a single homeserver that hasn't explicitly enabled it and the room +history never goes away. (If I am wrong, [please contact me](/discuss) as +I have one private room where history goes away after 7 days, but another with the +same configuration (nowadays 31 days though), which I can scroll as far back +as I want.) + +*Technical note: sorry about calling reference homeserver implementation issue + as a Matrix protocol issue.* + +You may say that this requires you to trust the homeserver admin anyway and +that is true, I wish people could trust each other and even if someone +modified their Synapse to never remove anything or had a client logging +everything, they wouldn't throw that history to people who don't want to see it. + +Speaking of removals, once you remove a message [it will be stored in the database for server admins for 7 days](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/blob/ba5287f5e8be150551824493b3ad685dde00a543/docs/sample_config.yaml#L456-L461) which is fine for me, but if [this message happened to be media instead of text, it would never be removed](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/1263) and should you have copied link to the media, it would keep on working +and if you changed the homeserver address in your copied link, it would still +keep on working. Is this something you expect from a private protocol? I don't, or I didn't before getting familiar with Matrix. There is also an [alternative proposal about this](https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-doc/pull/22289). + +*By the way Synapse is still a reference homeserver implementation and not + Matrix protocol itself, so sorry about that for anyone technical reading this.* + +Do you use different names in different contexts? Like your Full Name in +professional context, a nickname somewhere else and maybe what will be your +real name after gender transitioning or even have a diffferent name in direct +chat with your partner? [Congratulations, whatever is your latest room-specific name is public, same with your potential avatar](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/5677). + +*Synapse didn't become Matrix protocol itself by the way, there are still other implementations!* + +This issue does have a potential solution [an API planned for room specific details (2015)](https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-doc/issues/545) +and what I am hopeful about in the future [open pull request specification for space specific profiles](https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-doc/pull/3189), +unless it just moves the issue to a different level. + +I think that was my biggest complaints on Matrix (or Synapse itself), that +don't involve other protocols and I have personally experienced. My notes +for this blog post include [Matrix not having real contacts list](https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-doc/pull/2228), +but they didn't occur to me and I guess it has been doing fine enough without +implementing those. + +If any of these issues is a dealbreaker for you or you don't want to hear +a bad word about Matrix, you may be wondering what is the perfect flawless +solution? I don't know, personally I don't think it may not exist and I don't +want to enter discussing compromise solutions or other protocols in this post +at all. This list also wasn't complete on what issues I have with Matrix +(and so close to the end I don't want to dig for references) and I have +specific wishes that no protocol offers (at least not consistently, +such as using multiple names and knowing which name I am using where or managing +50 different rooms with same operators everywhere, but [that may get answered by Matrix](https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-doc/pull/2962).) + +You may wonder was it nice of me to write so negative blog post. I find it +therapeutic as [I have had an issue to me to write this since 2021-01-15](https://github.com/Mikaela/mikaela.github.io/issues/2309) +and now I have finally done it, a bit over half an year late, +spending a bit over an hour to it and I feel better after getting these problems +out of my head and maybe they weren't so big after all. Up to you. + +Lastly I apologise to you-know-who-you-are for not titling this post "undefined", +or even M.UNKNOWN (which I would have imagined to be one of the issues for me to write about, but +I don't remember seeing it in a long time, so maybe the situation is improving. + +Feedback? I have [a discussion room in many apps](https://mikaela.info/discuss), +or you can find me from a lot of the linked issues and there is also [issue tracker for this site](https://github.com/Mikaela/mikaela.github.io/issues). + +*TODO: if/when I return to this post, add a git changelog link here.*