# Keybase privacy rating

End-to-end encrypted chat, group chat and file sharing tied to public-key identity proofs. Owned by Zoom since its acquisition, with little ongoing development.

## Summary

Keybase scores 61 out of 100 (grade C) on the messengers criteria. It meets 3 of 8 criteria: no ads or data sales, end-to-end encrypted by default and no phone number needed. It partly meets open source, no trackers or telemetry and independent audit. It does not meet metadata protection and decentralized. It is based in the United States: Five Eyes member; subject to the US CLOUD Act.

- Website: https://keybase.io
- Source code: https://github.com/keybase/client
- License: BSD-3-Clause
- Jurisdiction: United States. Five Eyes member. Subject to the US CLOUD Act.
- Home page trackers: none found
- Category: [Messengers](https://privacyratings.com/messengers/)
- Grade: C (61/100)

## Criteria

| Criterion | Answer | Note | Evidence |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Open source | Partial | Client apps are BSD-3-Clause; the server is closed source. | https://github.com/keybase/client/blob/master/LICENSE |
| No trackers or telemetry | Partial | No third-party analytics are listed, but the service collects device and operating system analytics data with no documented opt-out. | https://keybase.io/docs/privacypolicy |
| No ads or data sales | Yes | The privacy policy states Keybase will never run ads or sell user data. | https://keybase.io/docs/privacypolicy |
| Independent audit | Partial | A full NCC Group report is public but is older than three years. | https://keybase.io/docs-assets/blog/NCC_Group_Keybase_KB2018_Public_Report_2019-02-27_v1.3.pdf |
| End-to-end encrypted by default | Yes | All chats and team chats are end-to-end encrypted with per-device keys. | https://book.keybase.io/docs/chat/crypto |
| No phone number needed | Yes | The privacy policy states Keybase never requires a phone number or an email address. | https://keybase.io/docs/privacypolicy |
| Metadata protection | No | The central server sees which accounts and teams exchange messages. |  |
| Decentralized | No | One central service run by Keybase; the server is not published for self-hosting. |  |

Source: https://privacyratings.com/messengers/keybase/
Edit: https://github.com/privacyratings/privacyratings.com/edit/main/ratings/messengers/keybase.md