Frequently asked questions =========================== What is the difference between chatmail relays and classic email servers? -------------------------------------------------------------------------- A chatmail relay is a minimal Mail Transport Agent (MTA) setup that goes beyond what classic email servers offer: - **Zero State:** no private data or metadata collected, messages are auto-deleted, low disk usage - **Instant/Realtime:** sub-second message delivery, realtime P2P streaming, privacy-preserving Push Notifications for Apple, Google, and `Ubuntu Touch `_; - **Security Enforcement**: only strict TLS, DKIM and OpenPGP with minimized metadata accepted - **Reliable Federation and Decentralization:** No spam or IP reputation checks, federating depends on established IETF standards and protocols. How about interoperability with classic email servers? ------------------------------------------------------- Generally, chatmail relays interoperate well with classic email servers. However, some chatmail relays may be blocked by Big-Tech email providers that use intransparent and proprietary techniques for scanning and looking at cleartext email messages between users, or because they use questionable IP-reputation systems that break interoperability. **Chatmail relays instead use and require strong cryptography, allowing anyone to participate, without having to submit to Big-Tech restrictions.** .. _selfhosted: How are chatmail relays run? Can I run one myself? -------------------------------------------------- Chatmail relays are designed to be very cheap to run, and are generally self-funded by respective operators. All chatmail relays are automatically deployed and updated using `the chatmail relay repository `__. Chatmail relays are composed of proven standard email server components, Postfix and Dovecot, and are configured to run unattended without much maintenance effort. Chatmail relays happily run on low-end hardware like a Raspberry Pi. How trustable are chatmail relays? ---------------------------------- Chatmail relays enforce end-to-end encryption, and chatmail clients like `Delta Chat `_ enforce end-to-end encryption on their own. The end-to-end encryption protection includes attached media, user display names, avatars and group names. What is visible to operators is: message date, sender and receiver addresses. Please see the `Delta Chat FAQ on encryption and security `_ for further info.