Signal Alumni Release 'Encrypted Spaces' for Private Apps
Original: Signal Alums Reveal ‘Encrypted Spaces,’ a System for Making Private Collaboration Apps
Why This Matters
Enables privacy-focused alternatives to mainstream collaboration tools
Former Signal developers and cryptographers from Harvard and Microsoft Research unveiled Encrypted Spaces, an open-source framework enabling developers to build end-to-end encrypted collaboration apps with features like Slack or Discord while maintaining privacy protection.
A team of cryptographers including Signal protocol co-creator Trevor Perrin and Harvard engineer Nora Trapp released a preview of Encrypted Spaces, open-source code libraries for building encrypted collaboration software. The framework uses zero-knowledge proofs to enable complex multiuser features like group conversations, document editing, and user management while maintaining end-to-end encryption. Unlike traditional messaging that works as a 'pipe' between two users, Encrypted Spaces creates protected 'spaces' for collaborative work. The system extends beyond simple messaging to support features found in Slack, Discord, and Google Docs without compromising privacy. Johns Hopkins professor Matt Green calls it 'the next generation of the Signal protocol' for more complex applications.