Not even we can read it.
Every chat on Pebl is end-to-end encrypted, and there is no way to turn it off. The keys that open your messages are only on your phones.
This is all the server sees.
When a message reaches our server, all we have is who sent it to whom, and when. We cannot see what you wrote: the message is locked on your phone, and only Deniz’s phone can unlock it.
Common questions
What if my phone is stolen?
The locks keep changing: the keys on a stolen phone do not open old messages, and soon cannot open new ones either. From another device, go to Settings › Sessions and remove the stolen one at once.
How do I know I’m really talking to them?
On their page, tap Safety number. When you are together, scan each other’s code; if it matches, nobody is in between. If it ever changes, you see it in the chat.
What do quantum computers have to do with it?
Someone could record encrypted messages today and try to open them years later with a very powerful computer. Pebl uses two different locks together against that: even if one breaks, the other holds.
What happens to my messages on a new phone?
On your old phone, use Settings › Sessions › Link a device to scan the code on the new one. The locks move over, encrypted. Without the old phone, your account starts again with new locks, and your contacts see that.
Beyond the message
The lock is not only on what you write, but on everything around it.
Photos and files
Where a photo was taken is stripped before it is sent. Every file is locked with its own key before it is uploaded.
Calls
Voice and video calls always go through our server, so the other person never sees your IP address. Sound and video travel encrypted; the server only passes them on. In a one-to-one call, the handshake that sets it up is signed with your chat’s key: if the server tried to step in, the call would not connect. Calls are never recorded.
Notifications
A notification carries no message; it only wakes your phone. Your phone fetches the message and opens it itself.
Link previews
The sender’s phone makes the preview: your phone visits the link’s site, not our server. The preview travels locked inside the message; we never know which links you share.
Pebl Web
Chats are end-to-end encrypted in the browser too. View-once photos never open in the browser, only in Pebl on your phone. Pebl Web runs in one tab per browser.
Backups
Pebl’s chats and keys never go into Google backups or phone-to-phone copies. You move to a new phone by linking it from your old one.
Maps
Maps come through our server; the map service never sees your phone.
Crash reports
If the app crashes, only the error, the app version and the phone model reach us. No messages, names or account. Turn them off in Settings › Privacy › Error reports.
Sessions
You see every phone and browser signed in to your account. Remove one you don’t recognise with one tap; it is cut off at once.
How far along are we?
We finish one step before starting the next. We are also planning an independent security audit.
For the curious
You can use Pebl safely without knowing any of this.
Technical details
Found a vulnerability? Thank you. Send the details to guvenlik@pebl.im, and please keep it private until it is fixed.Report