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X's new 'encrypted' XChat feature seems no more secure than the failure that came before it
(www.theregister.com)
this post was submitted on 03 Jun 2025
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Technology
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I think people are missing the way this is actually a win. Obviously, nobody should be using it as their primary communication, just as nobody should be using FB Messenger as their primary communication. However, just like when Messenger added E2EE, having encrypted DMs on X is just smart. Less of a burden on a company in the event of data breaches and likewise less of a concern for individuals. It also means that normies have a slightly reduced risk of leaks.
Again, obviously no one SHOULD be using X for private conversation but having any form of E2EE on DMs is a win in my book.
It sounds like this isn't E2EE based on the article - there has been no papers published, and the verbiage in privacy agreements still states Twitter can decrypt your messages as needed. That indicates this is functionally similar to the old messages.
I guess that's a fair point. Ultimately, I'm not interested in caring that much about whether or not a platform can read my messages. I just don't want them to be able to be accessible if there's a data breach. I would never use these platforms' private messages for anything that is remotely sensitive but it's generally a good idea to keep messages away from data breaches as much as possible.