Man
Professional
- Messages
- 3,077
- Reaction score
- 614
- Points
- 113
The messenger is leaving its native Australia, leaving many questions unanswered.
Encrypted messenger Session is moving its activities from Australia to Switzerland due to an unexpected check of a company employee by the Australian police. The new project management center will be located in Switzerland, known for its privacy laws.
Alex Linton, head of the newly formed Session Technology Foundation (STF), explained that the project could not continue to work in Australia due to insufficient confidentiality guarantees. The foundation chose Switzerland to work because the country has a more "favorable environment for the development of technologies focused on data protection." Linton noted that Session will remain available to Australian users.
Linton also said police came to the home of one of Session's employees last year without a warrant or warning. The officers asked questions about the work of the company and one of its users, which displeased Session representatives. Police decided to meet with the employee directly, ignoring the company's public communication channels, which Linton said created additional complications.
Later, the police requested technical details about the work of the messenger and plans for its development. Police declined to comment on the incident, but confirmed that they were aware of the use of Session to commit crimes.
Session attracted the attention of users after the arrest of Pavel Durov. Many were looking for an alternative to Telegram, which led to a slight increase in the number of Session users. Session claims that the app's audience already exceeds 1 million people. The messenger attracts because it provides data encryption and does not require you to enter a phone number or email address when registering, operating on a decentralized network of servers.
Australian surveillance laws and new requirements for online services were also one of the factors behind the company's departure. The regulator has introduced mandatory rules according to which all Internet services must collect users' contact details, including phone numbers or email addresses. Linton stressed that Session is designed to be an open and decentralized solution, but complying with the new regulations would make it impossible to maintain privacy at the same level.
After the transfer of operations to Switzerland, the development and publication of the messenger will come under the control of STF. The update of the application will be accompanied by a change in signing keys, and all transparency reports will be published on behalf of the foundation.
Source
Encrypted messenger Session is moving its activities from Australia to Switzerland due to an unexpected check of a company employee by the Australian police. The new project management center will be located in Switzerland, known for its privacy laws.
Alex Linton, head of the newly formed Session Technology Foundation (STF), explained that the project could not continue to work in Australia due to insufficient confidentiality guarantees. The foundation chose Switzerland to work because the country has a more "favorable environment for the development of technologies focused on data protection." Linton noted that Session will remain available to Australian users.
Linton also said police came to the home of one of Session's employees last year without a warrant or warning. The officers asked questions about the work of the company and one of its users, which displeased Session representatives. Police decided to meet with the employee directly, ignoring the company's public communication channels, which Linton said created additional complications.
Later, the police requested technical details about the work of the messenger and plans for its development. Police declined to comment on the incident, but confirmed that they were aware of the use of Session to commit crimes.
Session attracted the attention of users after the arrest of Pavel Durov. Many were looking for an alternative to Telegram, which led to a slight increase in the number of Session users. Session claims that the app's audience already exceeds 1 million people. The messenger attracts because it provides data encryption and does not require you to enter a phone number or email address when registering, operating on a decentralized network of servers.
Australian surveillance laws and new requirements for online services were also one of the factors behind the company's departure. The regulator has introduced mandatory rules according to which all Internet services must collect users' contact details, including phone numbers or email addresses. Linton stressed that Session is designed to be an open and decentralized solution, but complying with the new regulations would make it impossible to maintain privacy at the same level.
After the transfer of operations to Switzerland, the development and publication of the messenger will come under the control of STF. The update of the application will be accompanied by a change in signing keys, and all transparency reports will be published on behalf of the foundation.
Source
