Disclaimer: I'm not saying that Vanishing Messages are bad, or wrong. Nor am I saying that app developer, like the Wire or Element teams, ought to be criticised for adding them. There may be uses for them that I haven't considered, such as one given by @mensrea upthread.

What I am saying is they do not and cannot do what a lot of people concerned about their message privacy seem to think they can do. So apps developers ought *not* to be criticised for not adding them.

#VanishingMessages

I've been seeing a few requests for Vanishing Message (or "self-destructing messages") for the fediverse. So I think it's important to make say this, as simply as clearly as possible...

Vanishing Messages are Privacy Theatre:

https://flameeyes.blog/2014/07/22/privacy-theatre/

Let's unpack this a bit...

#fediverse #privacy #PrivacyTheatre #VanishingMessages