Messengers
Tox & qTox client privacy rating
Peer-to-peer encrypted messaging protocol with no central servers, and qTox, its desktop client for chat, voice, video and file transfer. qTox is now maintained by the TokTok project after the original repository was archived.
Summary
Tox & qTox client scores 83 out of 100 (grade B) on the messengers criteria. It meets 6 of 8 criteria: open source, no trackers or telemetry, no ads or data sales, end-to-end encrypted by default, no phone number needed and decentralized. It partly meets metadata protection. It does not meet independent audit.
Score 83 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?
No telemetry or analytics in the source code, and there is no central service to report to.
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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?
Volunteer-run open source project with no company, ads or data sales.
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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?
End-to-end encryption with perfect forward secrecy is the default and only mode for all messages.
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Yes
No phone number needed Weight 2 of 3
Can an account be created without a phone number?
Identity is a Tox ID public key generated on the device.
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Partial
Metadata protection Weight 2 of 3
Does the service minimize who-talks-to-whom metadata (for example sealed sender or no user identifiers)?
There are no servers holding contact lists, but Tox does not hide IP addresses from contacts or the public DHT.
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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 a distributed hash table, with no central servers.