OUT OF DATE -- FOR ARCHIVAL PURPOSES ONLY

This is version 1.0 of our scorecard; it is out of date, and is preserved here for purely historical reasons. Please visit Surveillance Self-Defense if you're looking for recommendations on specific tools to use to ensure your privacy and security while we work on writing an updated guide to secure messaging. Again, you should not use this scorecard to evaluate the security of any of the listed tools, as many of them have been changed since the scorecard was last updated (some for the better, some for the worse).

 

Which apps and tools actually keep your messages safe?

In the face of widespread Internet surveillance, we need a secure and practical means of talking to each other from our phones and computers. Many companies offer “secure messaging” products—but are these systems actually secure? We decided to find out, in the first phase of a new EFF Campaign for Secure & Usable Crypto.

This scorecard represents only the first phase of the campaign. In later phases, we are planning to offer closer examinations of the usability and security of the tools that score the highest here. As such, the results in the scorecard below should not be read as endorsements of individual tools or guarantees of their security; they are merely indications that the projects are on the right track. For practical advice and tutorials on how to protect your online communication against surveillance, check out EFF's Surveillance Self-Defense guide.

Secure Messaging Scorecard

sort descending Encrypted in transit?

Encrypted
so the provider can’t read it?

 Can you
verify contacts’ identities?		 Are past comms
secure if your keys are stolen?		 Is the code
open to
independent review?		 Is security
design
properly documented?		 Has there been any recent
code audit?
AIM Yes No No No No No No
BlackBerry Messenger Yes No No No No No No
BlackBerry Protected Yes Yes Yes No No Yes Yes
ChatSecure + Orbot Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Ebuddy XMS Yes No No No No No No
Facebook chat Yes No No No No No Yes
FaceTime Yes Yes No Yes No Yes Yes
Google Hangouts/Chat "off the record" Yes No No No No No Yes
Hushmail Yes No No No No No No
iMessage Yes Yes No Yes No Yes Yes
iPGMail Yes Yes Yes No No Yes No
Jitsi + Ostel Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Kik Messenger Yes No No No No No No
Mailvelope Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes
Mxit No No No No No No No
Off-The-Record Messaging for Mac (Adium) Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Off-The-Record Messaging for Windows (Pidgin) Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
PGP for Mac (GPGTools) Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes No
PGP for Windows Gpg4win Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes No
QQ Yes No No No No No Yes
RetroShare Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Signal / RedPhone Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Silent Phone Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Silent Text Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Skype Yes No No No No No No
SnapChat Yes No No No No No Yes
StartMail Yes No Yes No No Yes No
SureSpot Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes No
Telegram Yes No No No Yes Yes Yes
Telegram (secret chats) Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
TextSecure Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Threema Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes
Viber Yes No No No No No Yes
Virtru Yes No No No No Yes Yes
WhatsApp Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes
Wickr Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes
Yahoo! Messenger Yes No No No No No No