Messengers
Cwtch privacy rating
Decentralized, metadata-resistant messenger from the non-profit Open Privacy Research Society. Contacts talk peer to peer over Tor onion services, and optional group chats use untrusted servers that anyone can run.
Summary
Cwtch scores 89 out of 100 (grade B) on the messengers criteria. It meets 7 of 8 criteria: open source, no trackers or telemetry, no ads or data sales, end-to-end encrypted by default, no phone number needed, metadata protection and decentralized. It does not meet independent audit. It is based in Canada: Five Eyes member.
Score 89 out of 100. How scoring works
Criteria
- Yes
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Yes
No trackers or telemetry Weight 3 of 3
Are the website and apps free of third-party trackers, with any analytics anonymous and any telemetry off by default?
Exodus finds no trackers in the Android app.
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Yes
No ads or data sales Weight 2 of 3
Is the product funded without advertising, ad targeting or selling user data?
Funded by donations to the non-profit Open Privacy Research Society, with no ads.
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No
Independent audit Weight 2 of 3
Has an independent security or privacy audit been published within the last three years?
No independent audit is published.
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Yes
End-to-end encrypted by default Weight 3 of 3
Are all chats, including groups, end-to-end encrypted by default?
All communication, including groups, is end-to-end encrypted over Tor v3 onion services.
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Yes
No phone number needed Weight 2 of 3
Can an account be created without a phone number?
No phone number or account registration is needed; profiles are identified by onion addresses.
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Yes
Metadata protection Weight 2 of 3
Does the service minimize who-talks-to-whom metadata (for example sealed sender or no user identifiers)?
Contacts connect directly over Tor, and group servers are designed to learn as little as possible about contents or metadata.
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Yes
Decentralized Weight 1 of 3
Can people run their own server or talk peer to peer?
Peer to peer over Tor, with no central Cwtch service; anyone can host a group server.