How Cove keeps you private

Everything is locked on your device before it leaves, with keys only your circle holds. Our servers carry and store locked data and nothing else. Even if someone broke into our servers, or a government demanded your photos, there would be nothing readable to give.

Chats and Spaces use MLS (Messaging Layer Security, RFC 9420), the IETF standard for end-to-end encrypted group messaging. Keys change as people join and leave, so someone who leaves a Space can't read what's posted after they've gone.

Each file is encrypted on your device with its own random AES-256-GCM key, in chunks, before upload. That key travels to your Space only inside the encrypted message or post. Our storage holds the locked file only.

Audio and video are encrypted frame by frame on your device. Small calls connect directly between devices; larger ones pass through a relay that forwards locked frames it can't open. Each call shows a short code of digits you can compare to be sure nobody is in the middle.

You sign in with a passkey: no password to steal or reuse. Your keys are made on your device. If you lose a phone, you can unlock a new device from another one, with your 24-word recovery kit, or with help from trusted contacts who each hold a piece of a recovery key. A public, append-only log of key changes lets everyone verify that the keys they use really belong to the people they're talking to.

To deliver your content we see your account email and handle, which chats and Spaces you belong to, when things were sent and how large they are, and your IP address (kept for at most 30 days, for abuse protection). We never see content, captions, Space names, comments or reactions. See our privacy policy for details.

Our encryption code will be open source and independently audited before launch. If you think you've found a security issue, please email support@covespaces.my with "Security" in the subject. We'll respond quickly and credit you if you'd like.