Discord introduces end-to-end encrypted audio and video chats

Discord will not be able to know what users talk in private conversations
An undated image of Discord. — Depositphotos
An undated image of Discord. — Depositphotos

Discord unveiled that audio and video calls inside the platform are set to be now end-to-end encrypted (E2EE), results that even Discord will not be able to know what users in that conversation talk about.

One of the largest group chat apps in the world, Discord was introduced as a group chat platform for gamers, with an emphasis on audio calls for users playing online games together, but also became famous with people who easily want a place where a large number of people can interact.

Discord, which claimed to have 200 million monthly users, revealed last year that it was working on bringing end-to-end encryption to its platform, starting with audio and video calls, stating that “at any given moment” millions of people are talking through calls on Discord.

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Currently, the company has rolled out the technology. In a blog post, Discord Staff Software Engineer Stephen Birarda stated: “Today, we’ll start migrating voice and video in DMs, Group DMs, voice channels, and Go Live streams to use E2EE. You will be able to confirm when calls are end-to-end encrypted and perform verification of other members in those calls.”

Meanwhile, Birarda claimed that private messages will not be end-to-end encrypted.

“Safety is intertwined with our product and policies. While audio and video will be end-to-end encrypted, messages on Discord will continue to follow our content moderation approach and are not end-to-end encrypted,” Birarda added.

Birarda announced that the company is set to release a paper about its encryption protocol, which he said was reviewed by the cybersecurity consulting firm Trail of Bits, along with open-sourcing the code.