Count the sealed-to-unsealed fallback, and offer to refuse it (ios#16)

🔴 **Off by default, and that is the honest default rather than the lazy
one.** An unsealed send is still end-to-end encrypted; what leaks is
that this account sent something to that one. Refusing turns a metadata
leak into an undelivered message, which for most people is the worse
outcome — so the default degrades and says so, and the refusal is there
for the people who would rather a message did not go than go
attributable.

The counters answer a question nobody could ask before. `Sent.sealed`
says whether one send was sealed; the record says how often this happens
to you, which is what somebody actually needs to decide whether the
switch is worth throwing.

⚠️ Refusing costs nothing: `sealed` is false exactly when neither a
capability nor a key was found, so there is no token to hand back.

⚠️ Both the policy and the counters are wired in ONE helper called from
both sign-in paths. Two call sites building a `Session` and only one
applying the policy is how a setting silently stops working on one of
them.

Taken by hand rather than cherry-picked — the original also rewrote a
ChatScreens that has since changed underneath it. The settings switch
for it is UI work still to come.
This commit is contained in:
Paul Hitt
2026-09-03 19:22:26 -04:00
parent a0bc8e68d2
commit 3f0e36fffc
7 changed files with 221 additions and 0 deletions
@@ -104,4 +104,31 @@ class MediaSettings(context: Context) {
val STORY_LIFETIME_CHOICES = listOf(1, 6, 24, 72, 168)
private const val LINK_PREVIEWS = "link_previews"
}
/**
* Refuse to send at all when the send cannot be sealed (§14.5, ios#16).
*
* 🔴 **Off by default, and that is the honest default rather than the lazy
* one.** An unsealed send is still end-to-end encrypted; what leaks is that
* this account sent something to that one. Refusing turns a metadata leak
* into an undelivered message, which for most people is the worse outcome
* — so the default degrades and SAYS SO.
*/
var requireSealedSending: Boolean
get() = prefs.getBoolean("privacy.requireSealed", false)
set(value) { prefs.edit().putBoolean("privacy.requireSealed", value).apply() }
/** Counters for how often sealing degraded (ios#16). */
var sealingRecord: io.flamenet.e2e.SealingRecord
get() = io.flamenet.e2e.SealingRecord(
sealed = prefs.getInt("privacy.sealing.sealed", 0),
unsealed = prefs.getInt("privacy.sealing.unsealed", 0),
lastUnsealedAt = prefs.getLong("privacy.sealing.lastUnsealedAt", 0L))
set(value) {
prefs.edit()
.putInt("privacy.sealing.sealed", value.sealed)
.putInt("privacy.sealing.unsealed", value.unsealed)
.putLong("privacy.sealing.lastUnsealedAt", value.lastUnsealedAt)
.apply()
}
}
@@ -361,6 +361,7 @@ class MessengerViewModel(app: Application) : AndroidViewModel(app) {
api = MessengerApi(
credential.relayBaseUrl, credential.username, credential.appPassword),
)
session?.let { wireSealingPolicy(it) }
val fetchedBuddies = runCatching { session!!.roster() }
val fetchedGroups = runCatching { session!!.namedGroups() }
stored to Phase.SignedIn(
@@ -571,6 +572,7 @@ class MessengerViewModel(app: Application) : AndroidViewModel(app) {
relay = relay,
api = io.flamenet.client.MessengerApi(config.baseUrl, account.username, credential),
)
session?.let { wireSealingPolicy(it) }
// 🔴 **Our return address, before the first federated send.** A relay
// that accepts a federated envelope records no sender, and our user id
@@ -2052,6 +2054,21 @@ class MessengerViewModel(app: Application) : AndroidViewModel(app) {
}
}
/**
* Wire the sealing policy and counters into a fresh session (ios#16).
*
* ⚠️ In one place, because two call sites building a `Session` and only
* one of them applying the policy is how a setting silently stops working
* on one of the two sign-in paths.
*/
private fun wireSealingPolicy(session: Session) {
val settings = MediaSettings(getApplication())
session.conversations.requireSealed = { settings.requireSealedSending }
session.onSendSealed = { wasSealed, at ->
settings.sealingRecord = settings.sealingRecord.recording(wasSealed, at)
}
}
/**
* The reasons a report may give (§6.25).
*
@@ -384,6 +384,10 @@ class Session(
record(Vault.threadForUser(peerUserId), text, mine = true, at = at,
link = link, messageId = mid, lifetimeSeconds = lifetimeSeconds,
delivery = if (sent.reachedSomeone) Delivery.DELIVERED else Delivery.PENDING)
// ios#16 — every send's outcome, not just this one's. `Sent.sealed`
// answers "was that sealed"; the record answers "how often does this
// happen to me", which nobody could ask before.
onSendSealed(sent.sealed, at)
// 🔴 Queued, not abandoned. A friend who is simply signed out should
// not cost the sender a reminder to try again later.
//
@@ -1158,6 +1162,14 @@ class Session(
)
}
/**
* Told after every 1:1 send whether it was sealed (ios#16).
*
* ⚠️ Injected: the counters live in Android preferences and this layer has
* no Android dependency.
*/
var onSendSealed: (Boolean, Long) -> Unit = { _, _ -> }
fun reactionsFor(storyKey: String): Map<Long, String> = storyReactions[storyKey].orEmpty()
fun myReactionTo(storyKey: String): String? = storyReactions[storyKey]?.get(userId)
@@ -212,6 +212,15 @@ class Conversations(
* at the sender as an incoming one. The sender's own copy is written
* locally by the caller.
*/
/**
* Whether this device refuses to send when it cannot seal (ios#16).
*
* ⚠️ Injected rather than read from preferences here: this module has no
* Android dependency. An unset value must read as FALSE — degrade and say
* so, rather than silently refusing to send on a fresh install.
*/
var requireSealed: () -> Boolean = { false }
fun sendToGroup(group: RelayClient.Group, text: String, myUserId: Long,
mentions: List<Int> = emptyList(),
/**
@@ -737,6 +746,14 @@ class Conversations(
// cannot tell it from a photo (§14.4).
val sealed = peerToken != null || peerKey != null
// ios#16 — refuse rather than degrade, for the people who would rather
// a message did not go than go attributable.
//
// ⚠️ Nothing is spent by refusing here: `sealed` is false exactly when
// neither a capability nor a key was found, so `takePeerToken` above
// returned null and there is no token to hand back.
if (!sealed && requireSealed()) throw RelayException.SealingRequired()
val preludes = listOfNotNull(
ourDeliveryKeyEnvelopeFor(toUserId),
ourKeyLogHeadEnvelopeFor(toUserId),
@@ -90,6 +90,20 @@ sealed class RelayException(message: String, cause: Throwable? = null) : Excepti
/** A 2xx whose body was not what the route promised. */
class Malformed(message: String) : RelayException(message)
/**
* Sealing was required and this send could not be sealed (§14.5, ios#16).
*
* ⚠️ Its own type rather than a generic failure. The user turned this on
* deliberately and the message did not go for a reason they chose — a bare
* "couldn't send" reads as the app being broken, and the next thing
* somebody does is switch the setting off without knowing that is what
* they are doing.
*/
class SealingRequired : RelayException(
"Not sent. This message could not be sealed, so the server would have seen " +
"that you sent it — and you asked Flamenet to refuse rather than send " +
"anyway. It will seal again once they message you.")
}
/**
@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
package io.flamenet.e2e
/**
* How often sending falls back from sealed to unsealed (§14.5, ios#16).
*
* 🔴 **The fallback is the thing worth counting.** Sealing hides WHO SENT a
* message from the relay. When the peer's delivery key or capability is missing
* the send still goes — end-to-end encrypted as always — but unsealed, so the
* relay learns the sender. The outcome was reported per send and nothing
* accumulated, so nobody could answer "how often does this happen to me".
*
* ⚠️ **Aggregate only, deliberately.** Counting per contact would be more
* useful and would also build a record of who this account talks to and how
* often — the precise thing sealing exists to keep off a server, kept instead
* on the device. Totals answer the question without producing a social graph as
* a side effect.
*/
data class SealingRecord(
/** Sends where the relay could not see who sent it. */
val sealed: Int = 0,
/** Sends where it could. */
val unsealed: Int = 0,
/** When the last unsealed send happened, unix seconds. 0 = never. */
val lastUnsealedAt: Long = 0,
) {
val total: Int get() = sealed + unsealed
/**
* What share of sends the relay could attribute, 0..1.
*
* ⚠️ Zero sends is not "nothing leaked", it is "nothing sent". Returning
* 0.0 would render as a reassuring 0% on a fresh install.
*/
val unsealedShare: Double? get() =
if (total == 0) null else unsealed.toDouble() / total.toDouble()
/**
* The sentence shown to the user.
*
* 🔴 **Says what is exposed, not that the message was readable.** An
* unsealed send is still end-to-end encrypted: the relay learns who sent
* it, not what it said. Copy that blurred the two would either frighten
* people about nothing or, worse, teach them that "sealed" means
* "encrypted" and leave them relaxed when it is off.
*/
val summary: String get() {
val share = unsealedShare ?: return "Nothing sent from this device yet."
if (unsealed == 0) {
return "All $sealed messages sent from this device were sealed — " +
"the server was never told who sent them."
}
val percent = Math.round(share * 100).toInt()
return "$unsealed of $total messages sent from this device ($percent%) went " +
"unsealed. Those were still end-to-end encrypted — the server could see " +
"who sent them, not what they said."
}
/** Fold one send's outcome in. */
fun recording(wasSealed: Boolean, at: Long): SealingRecord =
if (wasSealed) copy(sealed = sealed + 1)
// ⚠️ A sealed send must not clear the stamp: "when did this last
// happen" is the question, and one good send afterwards does not
// unhappen it.
else copy(unsealed = unsealed + 1, lastUnsealedAt = at)
}
@@ -0,0 +1,69 @@
package io.flamenet.e2e
import kotlin.test.Test
import kotlin.test.assertEquals
import kotlin.test.assertFalse
import kotlin.test.assertNull
import kotlin.test.assertTrue
/** Counting the sealed-to-unsealed fallback (§14.5, ios#16). */
class SealingRecordTest {
@Test
fun `a sealed send is counted`() {
val r = SealingRecord().recording(wasSealed = true, at = 5)
assertEquals(1, r.sealed)
assertEquals(0, r.unsealed)
}
@Test
fun `an unsealed send is counted and stamped`() {
val r = SealingRecord().recording(wasSealed = false, at = 1_700_000_000)
assertEquals(1, r.unsealed)
assertEquals(1_700_000_000, r.lastUnsealedAt)
}
/** ⚠️ One good send afterwards does not unhappen the last bad one. */
@Test
fun `a sealed send does not clear the last unsealed stamp`() {
val r = SealingRecord()
.recording(wasSealed = false, at = 100)
.recording(wasSealed = true, at = 200)
assertEquals(100, r.lastUnsealedAt)
}
/** 🔴 Zero sends is no data, not zero leakage. */
@Test
fun `no sends has no share rather than zero`() {
assertNull(SealingRecord().unsealedShare)
assertTrue(SealingRecord().summary.contains("Nothing sent"))
}
@Test
fun `the share is what went unsealed`() {
var r = SealingRecord()
repeat(3) { r = r.recording(wasSealed = true, at = 1) }
r = r.recording(wasSealed = false, at = 1)
assertEquals(0.25, r.unsealedShare!!, 0.0001)
}
/**
* 🔴 **Must not say the message was readable.** An unsealed send is still
* end-to-end encrypted; the relay learns the sender, not the content.
*/
@Test
fun `the summary distinguishes sender from content`() {
val summary = SealingRecord().recording(wasSealed = false, at = 1).summary
assertTrue(summary.contains("end-to-end encrypted"), summary)
assertTrue(summary.contains("who sent them"), summary)
assertTrue(summary.contains("not what they said"), summary)
}
@Test
fun `a clean record says so without overclaiming`() {
var r = SealingRecord()
repeat(5) { r = r.recording(wasSealed = true, at = 1) }
assertTrue(r.summary.contains("were sealed"), r.summary)
assertFalse(r.summary.contains("%"), r.summary)
}
}