🟢Feature Highlight (Privacy)
⛔Prevent URL Tracking
What is URL Tracking?
Link tracking or URL tracking is primarily a marketing and advertising tool for companies to learn more about their users. Examples are where a user shared a link from, who they shared it with, who clicked/engaged with the link, and so on. Affiliate links are one of the most common examples of URL Tracking. They are more or less undesired cookies that we didn't ask for or sign up for.
Another common example is UTM (Urchin Tracking Module) and it is designed to track and analyze the performance of marketing campaigns by identifying traffic sources. Surely, you have seen the super long URLs with snippets added like utm_source, utm_medium, utm_campaign, and so on.
Example:
website.com/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=sale
✅Vector Fixes This
As soon as you paste a link with the URL tracking on it you copied from somewhere online, it is automatically detected and stripped so the tracking stops there. You are no longer passing along unwanted trackers on yourself and to your contacts.
Pushing The Envelope — Privacy Messaging & Communication
Vector Privacy Interview with Co-Founder YuurinBee
1. The Origin Story
"What was the exact moment you realized the world needed Vector Privacy? Was there a specific incident or realization that made you say 'enough is enough' with existing messaging platforms?"
Personally, I first realized the world needed “privacy by default” (as many people like to use the term now) a handful of years ago. Society and the world has blindly trusted these large, tech corporations that just say “private” or “encrypted” being nothing but marketing buzzwords and sadly lacking any bit of truth and substance. That is when I truly saw the need, not demand, but need for privacy in communication—not just with messenger apps, but really extending towards all digital services, platforms, and mediums. As long time Discord users, especially being gamers and shared interests in blockchain and crypto, both JSKitty and I had loved the UX and the communities that had formed on Discord over the past 8 years. During that time, we had created and managed many communities of our own. As time progressed and with more experience, we had noticed very poor security practices, no encryption for messages, and overall growing concerns for Discord’s privacy. Afterwards, it became normal to read about data breaches and personal identities leaked with Discord, as well as many other top social media and messenger platforms. Going back about 5-6 years, we first wanted to create a privacy messenger app called “Hawkie”, but we lacked the technical stack and infrastructure needed, not to mention the knowledge and skill we had back then truly pales in comparison to now. Therefore, it was put on the shelf with many other fun and unique ideas to develop until we discovered Nostr. Nostr (Notes and Other Stuff Transmitted by Relays) is an open, decentralized protocol that supports many of the foundational principles that we required both philosophically and technically.
2. The Privacy Crisis
"Most people think 'I have nothing to hide, so why should I care about privacy?' How do you respond to that, and what are the hidden costs of surrendering our digital privacy that people don't realize?"
This is a splendid question and there’s quite a bit to say. It depends on the person I am talking to because I look for specific ways to relate to their potential problems that could follow based on their life and lifestyle practices.
I respond to this comment almost everyday or at least every week, if not from the very people we built Vector for, but also while developing Vector I get this question relentlessly. One of the biggest takeaways in life I can share with you in the modern world, we often compromise security for convenience. We are so used to wanting everything so easy, just one click, login with one account and do a million things, save my passwords so I don’t have to remember, backup to iCloud so I can access my files and photos anywhere. There is nothing wrong with wanting simplicity and a universally convenient user experience, but most of us are unaware of the unforeseen consequences and you really have to ask yourself “is it really that much more effort”?. What is the trade off? What is the opportunity cost here? It is simply evaluating the risks and hopefully choosing the choice that ensures the highest level of risk mitigation. Is it that much more effort to safely store your seed phrase or private key somewhere offline than it is to drive to a bank, wait for a teller, express your want to open an account, then spend 15-30 minutes divulging all of your personal information and putting it into their database, then being told you’ll get a card in 3-5 business days before you can really even fully utilize the account and system. Oops, I forgot to tell you they are closed after 5pm and not open on the weekends. Is it really more convenient? We have been conditioned this way because of the systems society has adopted for many years. It does not imply that they are optimal or even efficient at all… quite the contrary most people would argue.
To the world famous question “I have nothing to hide, so why should I care about privacy?”... I would respond by asking people questions to make them think and reevaluate what privacy means (some better than others lol). If you have nothing to hide, why not keep your windows open and your blinds open all the time? Why even bother putting walls up? I guess if you don’t care about privacy, there’s no need for clothes right? Why even bother putting up doors if you don’t mind people walking into your house and taking a look around, you’ve got nothing to hide right? Why don’t you put your phone on speaker while you’re in public and let everyone in on your conversation if you’ve really got nothing to hide? As silly and ridiculous as these questions are, it is about changing the mindset of how we view privacy. There has been a negative and a dark connotation around privacy that it’s only for people who have things to hide. Privacy is about security, not about hiding.
3. The Metadata Problem
"Vector emphasizes 'No Metadata.' Can you explain what metadata is, why it's arguably more dangerous than the actual message content, and how Vector solves this?"
Metadata is like digital bread crumbs. Metadata is simply additional data that can be viewed like online identifiers, whether you want to share them or not. Everything digital has some form of an identity and from that identity is how you interact with the digital world online. Your phone has an IMEI number, which is like a serial number. It even has hardware, firmware, and software information like which operating system are you using, which software version, what type of camera, and much more. This information is potentially exposed when you communicate online. When you login to a website, your IP address is tracked, which is like your personal serial number from your internet provider. This can tell where exactly in the world you viewed the website (it could even be pinpointed to your exact block, house, room). That is why many people have recently started to use VPNs (Virtual Private Networks), to mask this connection and make it more secure as nobody wants to be communicating to the world where exactly they live. It is an irrelevant bit of information that comes with many risks and zero real benefits.
The more information that nefarious, bad actors have on you makes it easier for them to infiltrate your life and cause a whole world of chaos and pain. This ranges from identity theft to stealing your bank account information, leading to a loss of money or assets, to committing crimes on your behalf, you name it.How does Vector solve this? By design. It does not collect this information as it has no need for it. Private messages should be only between two parties or any amount of disclosed members, consensually. Most companies, especially that offer “free” services, really are collecting your metadata and personal information in order to monetize it. They want to understand you, your behavior, and exploit your own psychology and patterns to try and sell you things. These companies can sell this information to third party marketing and advertisement brokers, if they don’t run a similar service internally. Information is digital gold, but it is not rocks they are mining, but people.
4. Decentralization vs. Corporate Control
"Signal, WhatsApp, Telegram—they all claim to be secure. What's fundamentally different about Vector's decentralized approach, and why does centralization make those platforms vulnerable no matter how good their encryption is?"
None of those apps can prove they are, except for Signal, which invented the Signal Protocol. This was groundbreaking at the time for end-to-end encrypted messaging and used for many years by many apps, until more advanced protocols came about. The issue with data centralization, as the name implies, is a centralized unit—a central point of attack could wipe out or simply compromise an entire network. Decentralization makes this astronomically more difficult, depending on the levels of decentralization and method. For the record, I would like to share with readers that just because something says “decentralized” does not really mean it is or that it is secure. There are many blockchain projects that claim to be decentralized and have 11 nodes, which they control a majority of. You must always do your own research to study the degrees of decentralization, privacy, and security.
Centralization also means single point of failure in terms of continuity.Centralization indeed makes those platforms more vulnerable, regardless of how good your encryption is. Encryption alone is not enough, but only one element. Just like decentralization, it is not enough on its own, but one important element. Here is a great infographic, research by Formless Labs, that covers this subject a bit more in detail, along with privacy.
5. Real-World Use Cases
"Beyond activists and journalists, who should be using Vector Privacy? Can you share why someone might consider using Vector instead of WhatsApp for example?
Wonderful question. Vector is designed for everyone. This is our intention, from the first foundational pillar laid. Understand that Vector is currently only in Open Beta and has a very unique branding and style, but will be modular and customizable so that people can truly create their ideal setup for communication, whatever the use case. We want to normalize privacy and have it so people don’t even have to know or care about privacy, just simply loving the Vector Privacy UX is enough. Their privacy is protected and our job is complete.
As a UX/UI developer, it is my personal goal to make it universal, but to dig deeper than that is really to make it fun, make it enjoyable. In the modern world, most of us communicate online because our networks are so big and vast. We have friends, family, and colleagues all over the world. This is the future of communication, it will mostly be digital. So, there needs to be a lot of emphasis and focus on the detail, the how. That is where my interests and knowledge in psychology hopefully comes in handy, not to exploit the human mind for dopamine traps and quick fixes to monetize actions, but to design in a way that is synchronistic, fluid, and feels natural with people.Messenger apps are often so limiting, we have barely scratched the surface. Especially with privacy messenger apps, most of them have a horrible UX that feels slow, unintuitive, and clunky… lacking any soul and void of anything that resembles humanity. We want to reinvent digital communication so that it feels effortless to truly express what is on your mind and heart. Let the end user focus on how good it feels to communicate and use Vector. Let us celebrate and sleep easy at night knowing that their privacy is protected.
6. The No-KYC Philosophy
“Vector requires no phone number, no email, and no KYC which is rare. Vector has made anonymity at signup a critical feature. Why?"
You will hear me say this on repeat, if you haven’t already. KYC is the greatest threat to privacy and the worst design for privacy. In a high-trust society, exactly how we grew up thinking (naive), but that when companies collected our data, we trusted them because we thought it made logical sense to provide this information in order for them to do their jobs more efficiently. There is still some truth to that. The general concept of KYC is not bad, but implementing it into the modern world with digital, online systems is a horrible idea as we have witnessed time and time again. It does not matter how great your security is or how big your company is, how much money they make, how many B’s in their total market cap, how many people in the cybersecurity department, but they are exposed to the same threats as every other entity operating online. The worst part about it? It is our data, the customer’s data, that is compromised and exposed online and to the dark web.There needs to be a redesign of this traditional model and I think there are a lot of great minds and developers working on alternatives, but for now KYC is a major threat to security and privacy. Never give more information than you have to. If it feels too intrusive, stop and look for other alternatives. I can assure you there are many great alternatives out there. Simply removing the need for KYC or any form of alternative identity linking already makes the experience objectively more secure. If there is no data, then what?Vector is a standalone, open-source privacy protocol that doesn’t have an interest or use for a user’s personal data. Therefore, it doesn’t collect it.
7. Open Source Trust
"Vector is open source. Why is that non-negotiable for a privacy tool, and what would you say to someone who asks 'Why should I trust Vector more than a closed-source app from a big company?'"
Why would you trust something created by humans that you can’t see and verify in some way or form? Would you trust test results from a pharmaceutical company telling you how their new product is better and safer without seeing the results yourself? …especially being able to see what scientists signed off on the reports publicly. Then, you can do a deeper background check on these scientists to see if they are credible or are bought out and make your own conclusion. That is precisely how open source works. You can see the current state of the codebase, what changes were made by who and when, and you can even look deeper into those contributors to see what else they work on and virtually do a whole background check online. Furthermore, look at open source as the best way to get international peer review from people whether you want it or not. It is the true test of time. The best protocols are open source and I am more aligned with the philosophy and culture of open-source than anything. Most business models actually benefit off of their customers not knowing, being in the dark. For example, they don’t know their recipe, their trade secrets, etc. That is how they profit almost inexorably. Well, how do open-source projects make money? Many of them can still operate a for-profit model, while the codebase is open-source, but a lot of open-source projects choose the non-profit route and accept donations and grants. If there is a will, there is a way. 9/10 I will always trust and have more respect for open-source projects than not. For the record, just because something is open-source doesn’t not implicitly imply that it is safe nor secure. It only implies that the codebase is transparent and under the premise of it being accessible to everyone, it has a higher chance of other developers or contributors potentially identifying bugs, critical issues, or even suggesting improvements and optimizations. The odds are certainly higher. As the saying goes "If you have an apple and I have an apple and we exchange these apples, then you and I will still each have one apple. But if you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange these ideas, then each of us will have two ideas.".
8. The Surveillance Economy
"Tech giants make billions selling user data and attention. Vector is free and doesn't monetize user data. How is that sustainable, and why should users trust that Vector won't 'pivot' to ads or data sales later?"
Absolutely, that is precisely what these tech conglomerates do and have been doing for decades, mostly unknown to the general public. There is indeed no such thing as a free lunch, energy has to always come from somewhere. Vector is sustainable simply for the fact that it is built on a robust and decentralized network out of any single individual’s control and power. It will survive, whether we want it to or not. The biggest threats, which are temporary, are really just internet outages more than anything. Why users should trust Vector? Don’t trust, verify. There is always a chance that anything could happen with any project. Even Bitcoin’s network was attacked by bad actors, years ago and even recently lol. Things don’t stay the same forever, but what’s important to know is that for the simple fact Vector is open-source, it could be forked and modified by anyone. If it had ads that someone didn’t like, they could fork the Vector Privacy repository and recreate it without ads for their own personal preference and even launch their own chat app. We encourage people to peer review and share feedback. Those are the basics for any true open-source app.Vector cannot pivot to data sales simply for the fact it doesn’t collect personal user data. It cannot and will not, by its protocol functionality and limitations alone. What data could be sold and who on earth would buy it?Fun Fact: The core contributors and founders of Vector Privacy cannot stand ads.
9. Network Effects & Adoption
"The hardest part of any messaging app is getting people to switch. Everyone is already on WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord, and Facebook Messenger. How do you convince someone to move their entire social circle to Vector, and what's your strategy for overcoming the network effect?"
100% legitimate question and no doubt, one of the biggest challenges. Part of our strategy is really to focus on the user experience. For future reference, let’s assume privacy is always a core focus for Vector and doesn’t need to always be mentioned. As I was sharing above, most messenger apps are not what people want or enjoy, they just don’t know any alternatives or like you shared, that’s where their entire social circles are.
I foresee the growth of Vector being steady and organic. The best thing we can do is work with our community and the users to optimize their experience and also allow for high-level customization. We don’t want to force anything on anyone, that is one of the biggest things that prompted us to build our own app. So many apps force you to use their trash UX and do actions that you really don’t agree with or want to do, but have to in order to execute your intended goal.
Once people have had enough with their privacy being completely invaded and compromised on these other apps, they will abruptly leave and say if you want to message me, you can message me on Vector. How do I know? because I’ve already watched it happen both with Vector and other messenger apps. Once Vector is further along the development pipeline and distributed through the most popular app stores, I think it will be much easier and the user experience will speak for itself. I am not under the impression that people will immediately think Vector is better and more fun, but I will be putting in my blood, sweat, and tears to make that a reality.
Retention is one of the biggest key factors of success for any and all applications. Why are people coming back? They have no other options, they love it, or it simply solves the problem(s) they have. I think one strategy is to focus on group chats and larger social networks, so that people don’t just log on to message their one friend privately. They can join other social groups, meet, interact, learn, and have fun like they would anywhere else online. Vector needs to be a home for people.
10. The Future of Privacy
"If Vector achieves mass adoption, what does the world look like in 5-10 years? What changes when billions of people have access to truly private, decentralized communication?"
It is insane to imagine, honestly. With the rapid development of AI and technology we have already crossed the threshold of there being more AI-generated content on the internet than actual content generated by people for the past few decades. Yes, insane is the correct word. Terrifying as well knowing that if humanity itself doesn’t evolve to a higher standard of living, one with shared moral values, the technology we invent will continue to evolve and we will repeat the same cycles of suffering, but much quicker and more powerful. What I’m hoping happens is that society comes to a consensus on privacy being a basic, fundamental human right and there will be laws implemented that protect, rather than destroy. To be clear, I am certainly not under the illusion that this will or is likely to happen, but I remain confident in the resiliency of the human spirit and fight for freedom. Free, open-source, and permissionless technology will thrive.
TLDR: Nothing new under the sun, but at least we have more privacy. :kek:
11. The Call to Action
"If someone is reading this interview and thinking 'this sounds great, but I'll switch later,' what would you say to them? Why should they download Vector today instead of waiting?"
"If you don't believe me or don't get it, I don't have time to try to convince you, sorry." Lol, jk. I spent an hour typing up this response to answer all of these questions so you could understand… but really “there's a difference between knowing the path and walking the path.” and I look forward to seeing you on the other side. Don’t act like you don’t download new apps every week or so. You don’t have to convert, it’s not a cult, it’s a privacy messenger app. Add me on Vector:
#nostr #nostrdevs #grownostr #decentralization
- 🎤 Overhauled Voice Messaging: a completely new Voice Messaging experience, with intuitive gestures & sleek UI.
- 📁 Upload Previews: files are now previewed prior to uploading, giving you a chance to review and confirm.
- 🗂️ Image Compression: images are now intelligently compressed before uploading; full‑quality is just a switch!
- 🖼️ Window Persistence: Vector now remembers how you size and position your app.
Improved:
- 🖌️ UI Revamp: a glassy, animated header, redesigned popups, mini‑avatars, group creator UI, and more.
- 💬 Expanding Chatbox: the real OG of this update; your chatbox finally expands to the size of your yap.
- ⚡️ On‑Demand Decryption: Vector no longer decrypts fully at boot, but on‑demand, vastly reducing RAM & CPU use.
Fixed:
- ⚡️ Flashbang: Vector had a brief "white flash" at startup, nicknamed “the flashbang”, this has been resolved.
- 🪵 Fixed Logouts: on some systems, particularly Windows, logouts were failing; this is now fixed.
- 📨 Several Unread‑System Bugs: more reliable read markers and better cross‑device compatibility.
- 📥 Improved Download Stability: attachment downloads are more stable and less resource‑wasteful.
- ⌨️ Removed Search OS Autocorrect: the Emoji Search was often interrupted by OS autocorrect, now disabled.
