AutoCrypt Heartbeat - Remove Encryption of Friends (if they move away from delta)

Feature Proposal
1

Expected behavior

Fiends often de-install deltachat. Then my client is sending encrypted and thier regular email client cannot read my message.

Expected is a button to remove the encryption from friends.

Actual behavior

If friends have de-installed deltachat, my delta client cannot remove the encryption keys.

Create an option to remove the encryption keys of friends or send the message without encryption keys, in case we know, that delta is not used anymore by friends and outlook or else instead.

Best would be a Heartbeat of Autocrypt, that once per week both clients exchange the encryption keys, and if not a key is sent back, then the encryption needs to be removed with a notice.

Unencrypted conversations need to have a defined color or flag in the friendslist, e.g. a grey icon or warning icon in the circle.

2

a heartbeat would be very tricky privacy-wise, as it could be used for tracking and to see if you’re online.

if your friend replies “cannot read your message” or otherwise sends an unencrypted message, encryption is stopped automatically. autocrypt is “self healing”, without asking users about keys, confronting users with choices or force them to learn something - Don’t ask users anything about keys, ever.

by chatmail, these situations are even more rare as people “trying out casually” Delta Chat less often use their real email account.

so, a dedicated option would be pretty much advanced and a bit off, regarding to what Delta Chat is communicating about keys currently. but let’s see :slight_smile:

3

Thanks, the funktion of a plaintext reply worked out.
The function is just not known.
(People write too less back, when they just get pictures (encrypted) over that channel).
Probably make this process more described.

For sure, it is a security risk, an attacker needs just to fake a reply-E-Mail and then all crypto has gone!! There must be a graphical Flag to those contacts, who are unencrypted.

I suggest that the circle instead of a picture or the Initial of names contains a special ICON, e.g. a Dead Cross in white and a circle with black backgroundcolor.

Closing this topic and opening the bug for a new unencrypted icon + circle.
thanks

4

Make it hard to do so, use an email server with DKIM & SPF enabled. Or use chatmail where encryption is the default and DKIM is mandatory.

5

There is a green checkmark and large warnings in the chat once you scan the contacts QR code: Guaranteed End-to-End encryption and many other good news - Delta Chat

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