<![CDATA[Like most social networks, Mastodon is not end-to-end encrypted.]]>Like most social networks, Mastodon is not end-to-end encrypted. If you're sending sensitive info it's better to use a separate end-to-end encrypted messaging app.

Mastodon itself warns you about this if you are sending a DM through the web interface (see the screenshot).

More info about the risks and how to mitigate them in the guide at:

➡️ https://fedi.tips/is-mastodon-end-to-end-encrypted

TL:DR - Main risk is your server admin reading your DMs, but they would need techy skills to do this.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/topic/4a74dcb5-68b6-4db0-afc4-7782e7196384/like-most-social-networks-mastodon-is-not-end-to-end-encrypted.RSS for NodeSun, 20 Sep 2026 23:12:01 GMTFri, 11 Sep 2026 17:07:11 GMT60<![CDATA[Reply to Like most social networks, Mastodon is not end-to-end encrypted. on Wed, 16 Sep 2026 10:29:27 GMT]]>@PVTejas

Main thing I was trying to get across with the "techy" comment is that there is nothing in Mastodon's own software that allows admins to view DMs, there is no admin tool for doing that (I was saying this because some people thought there was). You have to step outside Mastodon and look at the raw database directly, which requires tech skills and database access.

And yes that does mean the hosting company would have access, so it's always best to avoid sensitive data.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://social.growyourown.services/users/FediTips/statuses/117280224117400054https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://social.growyourown.services/users/FediTips/statuses/117280224117400054Wed, 16 Sep 2026 10:29:27 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Like most social networks, Mastodon is not end-to-end encrypted. on Wed, 16 Sep 2026 01:45:28 GMT]]>@FediTips Doesn't that just pass the buck to whoever is actually doing the techy job of hosting?
Although it does mean there are a lot fewer people who can snoop than I thought.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mstdn.social/users/PVTejas/statuses/117278187780162558https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mstdn.social/users/PVTejas/statuses/117278187780162558Wed, 16 Sep 2026 01:45:28 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Like most social networks, Mastodon is not end-to-end encrypted. on Tue, 15 Sep 2026 16:13:46 GMT]]>@PVTejas

A lot of admins use managed hosting services which do all the techy stuff for them (e.g. https://fedihost.co or https://masto.host or https://cloud68.co etc), so they aren't necessarily techy people.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://social.growyourown.services/users/FediTips/statuses/117275916905854505https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://social.growyourown.services/users/FediTips/statuses/117275916905854505Tue, 15 Sep 2026 16:13:46 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Like most social networks, Mastodon is not end-to-end encrypted. on Tue, 15 Sep 2026 10:02:56 GMT]]>@FediTips I think the ""they would need techy skills to do this" is moot for someone being a server admin

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mstdn.social/users/PVTejas/statuses/117274481533711881https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mstdn.social/users/PVTejas/statuses/117274481533711881Tue, 15 Sep 2026 10:02:56 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Like most social networks, Mastodon is not end-to-end encrypted. on Sat, 12 Sep 2026 13:35:22 GMT]]>@collective_truth

Well yeah, email is totally unencrypted and Google is a surveillance company.

Sensitive info should never ever be sent by email, it is totally insecure.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://social.growyourown.services/users/FediTips/statuses/117258329959760948https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://social.growyourown.services/users/FediTips/statuses/117258329959760948Sat, 12 Sep 2026 13:35:22 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Like most social networks, Mastodon is not end-to-end encrypted. on Sat, 12 Sep 2026 13:33:34 GMT]]>@FediTips But better than usnig gmail right?

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/ap/users/115967890192375774/statuses/117258322866416009https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/ap/users/115967890192375774/statuses/117258322866416009Sat, 12 Sep 2026 13:33:34 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Like most social networks, Mastodon is not end-to-end encrypted. on Fri, 11 Sep 2026 23:26:44 GMT]]>@FediTips

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA256

I wonder how many Fedi users are using PGP or similar schemes.
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]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://urusai.social/users/qgustavor/statuses/117254992960184863https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://urusai.social/users/qgustavor/statuses/117254992960184863Fri, 11 Sep 2026 23:26:44 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Like most social networks, Mastodon is not end-to-end encrypted. on Fri, 11 Sep 2026 22:46:11 GMT]]>@FediTips

I am not worrird about Grampa @jerry

He has another thing on his hands.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://infosec.exchange/users/SpaceLifeForm/statuses/117254833549570475https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://infosec.exchange/users/SpaceLifeForm/statuses/117254833549570475Fri, 11 Sep 2026 22:46:11 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Like most social networks, Mastodon is not end-to-end encrypted. on Fri, 11 Sep 2026 20:22:29 GMT]]>@farooqkz @FediTips 100% team Matrix here 😛

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://chaos.social/ap/users/116213669892773543/statuses/117254268512736780https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://chaos.social/ap/users/116213669892773543/statuses/117254268512736780Fri, 11 Sep 2026 20:22:29 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Like most social networks, Mastodon is not end-to-end encrypted. on Fri, 11 Sep 2026 19:10:16 GMT]]>@FediTips oh good point. I forget about the hosted services.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mcr.wtf/users/kev/statuses/117253984548647169https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mcr.wtf/users/kev/statuses/117253984548647169Fri, 11 Sep 2026 19:10:16 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Like most social networks, Mastodon is not end-to-end encrypted. on Fri, 11 Sep 2026 19:11:22 GMT]]>@kev

If you're a techy person they're trivial, but if you're e.g. running it on managed hosting the admin doesn't even get database access (though of course the hosting company staff do).

There's also the complication of moderating DMs, if someone reports it it becomes visible to the admin through Mastodon itself.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://social.growyourown.services/users/FediTips/statuses/117253978171508167https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://social.growyourown.services/users/FediTips/statuses/117253978171508167Fri, 11 Sep 2026 19:11:22 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Like most social networks, Mastodon is not end-to-end encrypted. on Fri, 11 Sep 2026 18:14:52 GMT]]>@FediTips

If you need an E2EE messaging but with a UI that even your toddler can work with, you can try https://delta.chat

Other than that, you can also try , and . They are all and

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.bsd.cafe/ap/users/116916392971982972/statuses/117253766651448959https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.bsd.cafe/ap/users/116916392971982972/statuses/117253766651448959Fri, 11 Sep 2026 18:14:52 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Like most social networks, Mastodon is not end-to-end encrypted. on Fri, 11 Sep 2026 17:52:31 GMT]]>@FediTips as a server admin I think it's worth mentioning that the techy skills required to read users' DMs are pretty trivial. I could do it very easily if I wanted.

Of course I don't, and won't, but I assume there are circumstances where I could be compelled to hand them over to law enforcement or something and I don't think I or the users would want to be in that position!

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mcr.wtf/users/kev/statuses/117253678819741761https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mcr.wtf/users/kev/statuses/117253678819741761Fri, 11 Sep 2026 17:52:31 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Like most social networks, Mastodon is not end-to-end encrypted. on Fri, 11 Sep 2026 17:46:28 GMT]]>@FediTips yes, this is important to know! It's also worth mentioning that the ActivityPub folks are working to add end-to-end encryption to the protocols, so hopefully we'll get that at some point.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://sfba.social/users/jamesmarshall/statuses/117253655019015207https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://sfba.social/users/jamesmarshall/statuses/117253655019015207Fri, 11 Sep 2026 17:46:28 GMT