A New Way to Communicate
Greyman Network is a social network we host ourselves, for people who want to talk without being profiled, throttled, or quietly removed. Private rooms are encrypted on your own device, so what you say in them never exists in readable form on our servers.
What our servers can see
Encryption changes what is possible for whoever runs the servers, not just what is permitted. This is where the boundary actually falls.
| Data | Stored on our servers | Readable by us |
|---|---|---|
| What you write in an encrypted room | Stored on our serversCiphertext only | Readable by usNo |
| Files and images you send there | Stored on our serversCiphertext only | Readable by usNo |
| Which rooms you are a member of | Stored on our serversYes | Readable by usYes |
| When you sent a message | Stored on our serversYes | Readable by usYes |
The bottom two rows are metadata, and no system that actually delivers messages can pretend otherwise. We would rather show you where the edge is than claim there is not one.
What the network is
- Self-hosted
- The servers are hardware we own and administer. There is no platform policy team above us that can decide this community should stop existing.
- Built on Matrix
- An open, federated messaging protocol with many independent clients. Nothing here depends on software only we are able to build or maintain.
- Funded by members
- The network is paid for by the people who use it rather than by advertising, so it has no reason to build a profile of you in order to work.
- Moderated, not policed
- A short code of conduct covers conduct towards other members. It is enforced, and it is the only thing that is.
Getting in
Make an account
Registration happens inside the app. You choose the name other members see.
Read the code of conduct
It is short, and it is the basis on which moderation happens. Read it first.
Join a room
Public rooms are open to any member. Encrypted rooms are opened by the people already in them, so introduce yourself. How to join rooms.
Come and talk
The app runs in your browser. Nothing to install, and no phone number to hand over.