Ephemeral rooms

Ephemera

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About Ephemera

A room for two devices to swap text and images, then forget it ever happened. No account, no history, no app to install.

Only the two of you can read it

When your second device joins, the two browsers agree on an encryption key directly with each other. Our relay passes the messages along but never learns that key, so it cannot read what you send. Messages are sealed with AES-256-GCM, the same cipher banks and messaging apps use.

A new key every time

Keys are created fresh for each room and thrown away when you leave. Nothing is written down, so a key recovered later cannot unlock a conversation you had yesterday.

Check the safety code

Both devices show a short safety code once the channel is ready. If the two codes match, nobody is sitting in the middle. If they ever differ, leave the room. It takes one glance and it is the only check we cannot do for you.

What we can and cannot see

Visible to the relay

  • That a room exists and how many devices joined
  • When a message passed through, and roughly how big
  • Your IP address, as with any website

Never visible

  • Your messages
  • Your images
  • File names and file types
  • Whether you sent text or a picture

Nothing is stored

There is no database and no message history. Nothing you send is written to disk. Rooms hold exactly two devices and disappear a couple of minutes after the last one leaves. Close the tab and it is gone for everyone, including us.

One caution

Encryption protects your messages on the way between the two devices. It cannot control what happens once they arrive, or who is holding the other device. Avoid sending passwords, payment details, or anything you would not want kept.

Ephemera keeps no accounts and no logs of your content. This summary describes how the product actually works.

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