Video calls
Element Call privacy rating
Open source group video calling app built on Matrix and LiveKit, usable standalone in the browser at call.element.io or inside Matrix apps such as Element X. It can be self-hosted.
Summary
Element Call scores 77 out of 100 (grade B) on the video calls criteria. It meets 5 of 7 criteria: open source, no ads or data sales, end-to-end encrypted, join without an account and self-hostable. It partly meets no trackers or telemetry. It does not meet independent audit. It is based in the United Kingdom: Five Eyes member; GDPR-style data protection law; CLOUD Act data access agreement with the US.
Score 77 out of 100. How scoring works
Criteria
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Yes
Open source Weight 3 of 3
Is all the source code needed to run the product public?
AGPL-3.0, with a commercial license option.
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Partial
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?
call.element.io sends Sentry error reports to Element's own server by default; PostHog usage analytics are opt-in.
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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 Element's paid hosting and enterprise plans, 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 Weight 3 of 3
Are calls end-to-end encrypted by default?
Calls, including group calls, are end-to-end encrypted with MatrixRTC.
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Yes
Join without an account Weight 1 of 3
Can people join calls without an account?
Unregistered users can join a standalone call from a link by entering a name; a temporary account is created automatically.
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Yes
Self-hostable Weight 1 of 3
Can the server be self-hosted?
Official self-hosting guide with a Matrix homeserver and LiveKit.