enCRyPT.in

Akshay C's XMPP server

A free, private, and fully open-source messaging service for friends and family.

• We do not not store, mine or sell your data.
• We offer full end-to-end encryption by default.
• We use free and open software only (linux, nginx, ejabberd).

Download an XMPP client to start using your account.

• Android: Download Conversations app from the FDroid store.
• Linux: Use Dino or Gajim.
• Windows: Use Gajim.
• iOS: Use ChatSecure.

First things first! Change your password when you receive the account.

Choose a nice long sentence with words from your native tongue. For example, "KitneyAadmiThe?Gabbar" is a much stronger password and easier to remember than some random "cq4wfHCV". Look below for how to reset your password in Conversations.

Privacy

Do you store, mine or sell our data?

No. Never. This is a small private service created by privacy focused individuals for our own personal use.

1. We don't store any of your data for more than a month.
2. We can't afford to store your data (cloud services are expensive).
3. We wouldn't know what to do with your data even if we stored it.
4. Your messages are encrypted by default. We would only be storing garbage, even if we did.
5. No one is interested in buying digital garbage (Microsoft!?).

How can I trust you?

This is a fully private server intended to be used by our own friends and families only. There is a very good chance that you either know the admin personally, or know someone who does.

Furthermore, all the software we use is free (as in freedom) and open-source. We do not use any proprietary software that may spy on you.

Can the admins read my messages?

No. No one can, not even the admins. As long as you are using end to end encryption(OMEMO protocal), only the intended recipient can read your messages.

All throughout its journey the message is fully encrypted. Even if someone reads it, it is garbled and appears as junk.

What kind of data is stored on the server?

To ensure that your messages are synced across all your devices, the server stores them for a period of thirty days before deleting them. This gives your devices ample time to retrieve all your messages before they get purged from the server.

Apart from storing your messages temporarily, your IP addresses and other metadata such as server logs, are stored temporarily. Even these are routinely purged since we cannot afford large storage.

Where is the server located?

The server is hosted on a small virtual machine on Amazon Web Services(t2.micro) in their Mumbai facility.

How is this free? Who is paying for all this?

It is not really free and as of now the admin is paying out of his pocket. The domain name costs about Rs. 900 per year, and once we run out of our free one year quota, AWS will charge us about Rs. 3000 every year for hosting. We'll work something out later.

Can we donate to cover the server costs?

Thank you, your offer is very much appreciated. However, we do not need it now. In about a year's we'll ask you.

Will we get better service if we pay you?

No, lol.

Why not just use WhatsApp?

Facebook, the parent company of WhatsApp, mines your data and uses it against you. Even though they claim end-to-end encryption, no one can verify it, as it is all proprietary and behind closed doors.

Furthermore, even if they can't read your messages, they certainly mine your metadata. Just knowing whom you're chatting with, for how long, and how frequently is valuable data.

Why XMPP and not other open standards?

XMPP protocol offers everything we want and is open and free for everyone. It is also secure, time tested, and widely used in the industry. Read more about it here.

While there are other semi open standards like Matrix (Element/Riot). However XMPP is superior. Why? See here.

I forgot my password!

Just contact me. I'm sure you know me.

💎🙌🚀🚀🚀