Would you use a website that required a browser extension to uphold end-to-end encryption of user content? (programming.dev)

submitted 6 hours ago* (last edited 5 hours ago) by tatterdemalion@programming.dev to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world

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I'm trying to create a web app that involves sharing of user-generated content, but one of the goals is that the service host operator should be blind to the content. Only authorized users should be able to see the content shared with them. This implies the content must be encrypted at rest, and users must hold custody of their private signing key.

I figure the situation requires an open source browser extension to hold onto a user's keys and decrypt content for them. The web app would still be able to browse all of the site's metadata, but any plaintext content must be siloed in the extension. The reason for using an extension is that the source code would be open source and independently verifiable, while building the same functionality into the web app would require trusting the host to serve the code you expect.

Do you think that's a reasonable tradeoff or is this asking too much from users?

The other option would be just requiring users to download an open source app for content viewing.

EDIT: Perhaps an important followup: are you OK placing trust in the host to never access your confidential data if it means you don't have to install additional client software or worry about verifying that client software's authenticity?

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[-] OwOarchist@pawb.social 3 points 5 hours ago

You don't need a browser extension or an app for this.

Look at MEGA Upload for example. While it's primarily a cloud storage platform, it does allow for file/content sharing ... though not really in the social media kind of way I think you're getting at. But the technical way they implement it could help you.

When you sign up there, you set a password, and the hash of that password is then your encryption key. All your client (whether an independent app or just a script on a web page) needs is the ability to hash the user's password to be able to reconstruct the key and begin decrypting things.

The main weakness of this is that users must remember their own password. Due to the zero-knowledge encryption, the host cannot know the password and cannot recover it. So if the user forgets their password, then they're just shit out of luck, and all their content is forever inaccessible.

[-] tatterdemalion@programming.dev 2 points 5 hours ago

All your client (whether an independent app or just a script on a web page) needs is the ability to hash the user’s password to be able to reconstruct the key and begin decrypting things.

This would work as an independent app. But as a web page, it would be delivered by the web server, requiring you to trust that the server is not snooping on your decrypted content (by sending it back to the server post-decryption).

this post was submitted on 15 Aug 2026

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