The Messaging App With No User IDs (SimpleX Interview)

Techlore Talks brings you in-depth conversations with the experts at the forefront of digital rights, privacy and security.

SimpleX Chat is the only messaging network where users have no identifiers—no phone numbers, no usernames, no user IDs at all. Henry interviewed founder Evgeny Poberezkin about how unidirectional message pipes create a network where servers don't even know users exist, why this isn't federation, how it compares to Signal and Session, and why the company is based in the UK despite encryption battles.

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Episode Timestamps

0:00:00 INTRO
00:01:31 SIMPLEX NAME
00:04:20 SIMPLEX TEAM
00:05:10 SIMPLEX VS. MAINSTREAM MESSENGERS
00:08:05 WHY THIS APPROACH?
00:11:14 THE FUTURE OF SIMPLEX
00:14:28 SIMPLEX NETWORK + FEDERATION
00:20:46 REGISTRATION MODELS
00:23:11 GOVERNMENT REQUESTS TO SIGNAL
00:25:42 REGISTRATION MODELS (CONT'D)
00:27:52 MESSENGER DISCUSSION?
00:29:54 SIMPLEX LIMITATIONS
00:31:00 WAYS TO USE SIMPLEX + SCALING
00:37:27 OPEN SOURCE
00:42:21 SIMPLEX ENCRYPTION + DENIABILITY
00:54:00 SIMPLEX METADATA
01:00:53 IP ADDRESS OBSERVATION
01:05:02 USABILITY CHALLENGES
01:09:53 MESSAGE DELIVERY
01:10:58 OUTAGES
01:13:14 MULTI-DEVICE SYNC
01:13:56 DESKTOP ONLY?
01:18:10 BATTERY IMPACT
01:19:44 BACKGROUND SYNC
01:21:50 FUNDING + SUSTAINABILITY
01:30:38 JURISDICTION
01:31:56 LEGAL + LIABILITY
01:40:37 PRIVACY AS A MEANS, NOT AN END
01:41:55 PRIVACY FOR THE MASSES VS. THE FEW
01:45:27 WHAT'S NEXT FOR SIMPLEX?
01:50:57 HOW TO FOLLOW
01:52:09 OUTRO