This Messaging App Doesn’t Need Your Phone Number — And It’s Freaking Out Governments
Staff Writer • 2025-03-22
Session, an encrypted messaging app built by Aussie developer Kee Jefferys, is taking privacy to extremes — no metadata, no central servers, and now, no home country. A messaging app that doesn’t want your number, your email, or your IP In a world where most "private" apps still ask for your phone number, Session is going in the opposite direction. The fully anonymous messaging platform — built by Australian developer Kee Jefferys — requires no personal information to sign up. No phone. No email. No strings. “It’s like putting a door on your bathroom. It’s not about hiding something bad — it’s about having basic human privacy,” Jefferys said on the Stonks Go Moon Podcast, hosted by Rocco Strydom. While other apps like Signal and Telegram tout end-to-end encryption, Jefferys says that’s just the beginning. “They still collect metadata — like your IP address, who you message, and when. That can be just as revealing as the content itself.” Onion routing and decentralization: buzzwords with teeth So how does Session protect users? For starters, it uses a privacy technique called onion routing, which Jefferys describes as “chaining VPNs together.” Your messages hop across a network of nodes, making it virtually impossible to trace your location or activity. Then there's the infrastructure itself: no central servers. Session runs on the Oxen Service Node Network, a decentralized system powered by its own cryptocurrency, where thousands of independently run nodes store and route messages. “The hardest part was making that system stable,” Jefferys admits. “With Signal, your message just sits on a server. With Session, it has to move across 2,200 nodes — redundantly, anonymously, and reliably.” Crypto under the hood — and a migration to Ethereum's layer 2 Session isn’t just a privacy app — it’s crypto-powered. To operate a node, users must stake Oxen, the network’s native coin. Rewards are given to those who contribute honestly and reliably, and penalties are enforced for downtime or bad behavior. Later this year, Session plans to migrate to Arbitrum, Ethereum’s popular layer-2 network, launching a new Session Token to expand its utility and reach. “We’ve been stuck on our own L1. Now we’re stepping into the broader ecosystem,” Jefferys says. Governments are already circling Session's radical approach to privacy has already drawn attention from authorities. In late 2024, Australian law enforcement reportedly showed up at the home of a Session developer. Though no direct threats were made, the team saw the writing on the wall. In response, they shifted operations to Switzerland, where privacy laws are far more favorable. “The environment in Australia is becoming more hostile to encryption,” Jefferys explains. “So we moved the project under a Swiss foundation to ensure Session can’t be shut down.” Balancing privacy with abuse prevention Critics often argue that apps like Session could be used for illicit activity — but Jefferys isn’t buying it. “People use cash for crime too. That doesn’t mean we get rid of money,” he says. “Most of our users just want to talk to friends and family without being surveilled. And we’ve designed Session so it’s actually harder for bad actors to exploit.” Session has no contact discovery, no public groups, and requires you to share your 66-character ID directly to connect. No username search. No phonebook sync. Just privacy by design. A quiet revolution in your pocket Session currently has 1.2 million monthly active users, and that number is growing fast as governments worldwide ramp up their surveillance powers. From WhatsApp’s metadata collection to Telegram’s centralized servers, mainstream “secure” apps are starting to look less secure than advertised. Session offers a glimpse into a future where privacy isn't a luxury — it's a baseline. “We don’t want to be the next big tech company,” Jefferys says. “We want to be the last messaging app you’ll ever need — because it actually respects you.”
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