As a photo storage product, most of our customers are looking to migrate their
existing libraries from other similar products. Given their distribution power,
that is mostly iCloud and Google Photos.
For someone migrating hundreds of GBs of photos, videos, and a lifetime of
memories, this process is riddled with anxiety.
Will I lose any photos?
Will the location, date and other metadata I have painstakingly added, be
migrated?
Will the quality of my photos be preserved?
...
This anxiety could last for hours or days, given the volume of data involved.
Having gone through this process ourselves, and having helped over a thousand
customers pull out of Google Photos, we should let you know that the anxiety is
warranted.
Takeout - like it's trash
Google has a separate product, called Takeout, that theoretically allows you to
export all your data - in batches of 50 GB zip files.
This is where things get difficult.
Your albums can be split across different zip files. Also, Google splits the
metadata from their original files and puts them in a separate JSON file. Now
these JSON files and their corresponding media files can be in different zips.
Now to solve this, you will have to unzip all the files (hopefully disk space is
cheap) and combine the subfolders together to merge the media and metadata
files.
You will then have to write a script to embed the metadata Google has stripped
from your original files. This workaround is so tedious, there are a bunch of
paid and free services
that just solve
this.
But hey, there are more edge cases.
If you have multiple files with the same name, the JSONs will collide
You only have 5 attempts to download. If you fail, start over.
If you like taking incremental backups, tough luck, there is no differential
sync.
Now, one could dismiss this as ignorance — the team working on it might not be
aware of these issues, However, their users have been complaining about this for
ages.
r/googlephotos
is filled with rants, some more than 5 years old.
API access
Google does offer APIs for
Takeout. But these are limited
to particular countries (E-U can guess which ones), and does not support data
exports from Photos, Email, and Drive.
There is also the Photos API, but they
do not allow downloads in original quality. More importantly, their
terms
forbid you from consuming the API to build a competing service.
Do not make a substitute for Google Photos.
Do not use this API to create, train, or improve (directly or indirectly)
similar or competing products or services.
This hurts any Google customer who wants to take their data out - either to
have a secondary backup or to move to another service.
And why would Google make this any easier? They are earning upwards of $2.5
Billion from Google One subscriptions. Not to forget the moat they have for
training large vision models.
History of Takeout
All of this is surprising given how early Google started working on Data
Portability.
Takeout was launched in
2011
by an internal Google team called The Data Liberation Front, that started
working in 2007 from their Chicago offices.
To give some context to where we are in the timeline, in 2007, Google was
primarily known for the search engine and Gmail. Chrome would only launch a year
later, as would the first Android Phone.
Data portability was looked at as a competitive advantage by Google for its
fight against Facebook over social dominance.
At launch, Takeout supported exports of Buzz, Contacts, Circles, Picasa, Profile
and Stream. Takeout expanded over the next few years to include more services
that Google offered. While there were lots of updates in the first 1-2 years
after launch, things slowed down after 2013.
Because GDPR encouraged data portability, the Big Tech companies worked together
to move data to each other’s services along with a few other competitors - Box,
Dropbox, Flickr, SmugMug. Just like Google’s earlier work, it saw a lot of
development in its first year before eventually tapering off.
Google was an early leader in Data Portability. However, the impetus to launch
and improve it only happened because of external pressure - competitive
advantage or regulatory push. With fresh pressure from anti competitive
regulators across the world, one could hope it makes Google prioritise
portability again.
What you could do
So, in light of all this, what can you, as an end consumer, possibly do?
Raising awareness would go a long way to push Google to fix some of these
issues. This includes being vocal about this on social media or personally
letting people know about these practices. The more Google thinks this is
creating a negative brand perception, the better the chances that they will
listen.
And if you are an existing Google customer who wants to Takeout their data, you
might want to check out these - Youtube
videos, Reddit
posts, and
these free and
paid tools.
What Google should do
Allow API access for data exports.
Return the same bytes that were uploaded (without splitting metadata).
Support differential sync to make periodic backups viable.
If a company as small as Ente can provide a desktop app and a CLI with
differential sync for exports, Google surely has the engineering bandwidth to do
the right thing.
All this said, we are fans of the product that is Google Photos. Right from the
Picasa days, to post the Bump acquisition, they have been pushing the boundaries
on what a photos app can do. While there are certain aspects that we don't agree
with, we look up to them for their product experience.
But Takeout in its current state is a reflection of a lot of things that are
wrong at Google - promo-driven development, lack of empathy and malicious
compliance.
In this age, our smartphones have become treasure troves of memories.
But how often have you hesitated to show someone a photo, fearing they might
swipe too far and stumble upon something private? We understand this concern
and that's why we're excited to introduce our latest feature: Guest View.
What is Guest View?
Guest View is a feature designed to give you complete control over which photos
you show. It allows you to select specific photos or videos to show others,
without the risk of them accessing your entire gallery.
How to use Guest View
Using Guest View is simple and intuitive:
From your gallery, select the photos or videos you want to show.
Tap the "Guest View" option in the selection options.
Hand your device to your guest – they can now swipe through only the selected items.
To exit Guest View, authentication is required, ensuring your privacy.
You can also enable Guest View for a single photo or video from the photo viewer.
At Ente, we believe your memories should be for your eyes only – unless you
choose to share them. That's why we've built our app with privacy at its
core. With end-to-end encryption, secure backups and fully open source,
Ente Photos offers a level of privacy that goes beyond traditional photo
apps.
Your memories are precious and Guest View is just one of the many
features that reflect our commitment to protecting your memories.
We just completed our move to a new Mastodon server, say hello to
ente@fosstodon.org! 👋
It's been quite the process, and we wanted to share our experience. Whether
you're curious about our move or considering a Fediverse migration yourself, we
hope you'll find this useful.
Deciding to move
We loved our old home at mstdn.social. It was a
wholesome server run by an amazing admin. But we
felt that we might be missing out on being discovered by an audience who were
more aligned with our core values of privacy, crafting software in the open and
technology in general.
Fosstodon
Fosstodon caught our eye because it's a hub for
open-source and technology enthusiasts. Projects like
Bitwarden,
Notesnook,
Framework and
Fedora (!) called it their home, and we felt
like it might be a good fit for us.
Noteably, Fosstodon is an invite-only instance, and we were fortunate to have a
friend in the community who provided us with an invite.
Migration
While Mastodon's documentation
makes it look simple, the migration wasn't as seamless as advertised. We'll get
to that in a bit. These were broadly the steps we followed.
We exported our data from the existing instance. This was straightforward,
and we immediately received a link to our registered email address where we
could download our entire activity stream.
We then created our new account on Fosstodon and imported our data. This
primarily included our list of followers
We set up our new profile, including bio, avatar, and header image.
We updated our links on our website and GitHub, so they'd show up as
verified.
We finally configured a redirect on our old account.
What went well
Most of our followers made the move with us.
Configuring the old account to redirect to the new one was trivial.
What did not go well
Here's where things got a bit tricky:
Our posts didn't make the move. We had incorrectly assumed they would. So we
ended up with an empty profile on the new instance, which was a bit of a
bummer. If you're interested, there's an open GitHub
issue tracking this.
Not all our followers migrated. ~6% of our original followers continue to
follow the account on the older instance. Setting up the account redirect has
deactivated our older account, so we no longer have a way to announce our new
address to them.
Advice from our learnings
If you're thinking about making a move in the Fediverse, here are some tips:
Familiar yourself with the data migration process documented
here.
Be aware of what data gets migrated (your lists), and what does not (your
content).
Announce the migration before and after it's done, because not all followers
might move.
Update your Mastodon profile links on your websites, so the verification
check mark is intact.
Check out third party tools like
MastodonContentMover that might
serve your use case better.
Additional resources
For those of you interested in diving deeper into the technical aspects of
Mastodon migration or the Fediverse in general, here are some helpful resources:
We hope this article was useful whether you're just curious about Mastodon
in general or planning your own move!
As for us, we're excited about meeting our neighbours on the new server and are
looking forward to interesting conversations. So if you care about privacy,
open-source or photos, come say hello to us at
@ente@fosstodon.org! 👋
Remember that day when you first realized how much of your data was being
collected by your operating system? Yeah, me too. It was like finding out your
best friend had been secretly reading your diary. Not cool, Windows. Not cool at
all. Recent findings from the YouTube channel "The PC Security
Channel" have shed light on the
extent of data harvesting in Microsoft's latest OS.
At Ente, we're committed to empowering users like you to enhance your privacy
and security. One powerful step in this direction is transitioning from Windows
to a GNU/Linux-based operating system.
Understanding GNU/Linux
It's important to note that what we commonly call "Linux" is more accurately
referred to as "GNU/Linux". This acknowledges the GNU
project's significant contributions to the operating system, including essential
tools and libraries that work alongside the Linux kernel.
Why make the switch to GNU/Linux?
Privacy: Unlike Windows, they don't collect user data by default.
Security: Generally less vulnerable to malware and viruses.
Cost-Effective: Most of them are free and open-source.
User-Friendly: Modern distributions are designed with ease of use in mind.
Performance Boost: Often runs faster than Windows, especially on older
hardware.
Choosing your GNU/Linux distribution
Let's break down some of the most beginner-friendly GNU/Linux distributions (we
call them "distros" in Linux-speak) and find the perfect one for you.
Linux Mint: The Windows-like experience
Linux Mint offers a familiar interface for Windows
users.
You'll appreciate it if:
You're coming from Windows and want something familiar
You prefer things to work out of the box
You want a balance between modern features and system stability
🌿 Minty Fresh Tip: The Cinnamon desktop environment is great for beginners, but
MATE and Xfce are excellent alternatives if you prefer a lighter system.
Zorin OS: The Windows lookalike
Zorin OS is designed to make the transition from Windows
as smooth as possible.
It's perfect for you if:
You're a Windows user looking for the most familiar experience
You want a polished, professional-looking interface out of the box
You appreciate having built-in Windows app support via WINE
🔄 Zorin Zone: Zorin OS comes with a unique "Zorin Appearance" app that lets you
easily switch between Windows-like, macOS-like, and other layouts with just a
few clicks!
Fedora: Bleeding Edge with Stability
Fedora offers a balance between new
features and system stability.
It's a good fit if:
You want recent software versions without sacrificing stability
You're interested in a pure open-source experience
You might be interested in system administration or development in the future
🎩 Fedora Fact: Fedora is the community version of Red Hat Enterprise Linux,
used in many corporate environments.
Pop!_OS: For Creators and Gamers
Developed by System76, Pop!_OS is gaining popularity
among creators and gamers.
You'll enjoy it if:
You're a creative professional or gamer
You appreciate a clean, minimalist interface
You want good out-of-the-box support for NVIDIA graphics
🎮 Pop! Culture: Pop!_OS comes with built-in tools for managing multiple GPUs,
making it great for laptops with both integrated and discrete graphics.
Elementary OS: The macOS-like Experience
If you're coming from macOS, Elementary OS might feel
familiar.
It's your match if:
You appreciate a clean, minimalist design
You're transitioning from macOS
You want a distro that "just works" out of the box
🎨 Elementary Elegance: While it's okay to choose a distro for its looks,
remember that you can customize most GNU/Linux distros to your liking!
💡 Newbie Tip: Don't stress too much about choosing the "perfect" distro. Linux
Mint, Zorin OS, or Pop!_OS are great starting points for most people, especially
those coming from Windows. Remember, you can always try different distributions
later as you become more comfortable with GNU/Linux.
A note on Security
While GNU/Linux systems are generally considered more secure than Windows, it's
important to understand that not all distributions offer the same level of
security. Factors that can affect security include:
Frequency and timeliness of security updates
Default security settings and features
The distribution's focus on security (some prioritize it more than others)
Community size and responsiveness to security issues
GNU/Linux friendly Laptops
For those who prefer a hassle-free transition, consider purchasing a laptop
that's designed to work well with GNU/Linux or comes with it pre-installed. This
option ensures full hardware compatibility and saves you the time of
installation and initial setup. When choosing a GNU/Linux-friendly laptop, it's
crucial to consider not just the software, but also the hardware manufacturer's
reputation for privacy, security, and sustainability.
Notable options:
System76: Offers a range of laptops
pre-installed with Pop!_OS. Known for their commitment to open-source
principles and privacy.
Purism: Focuses on privacy-centric laptops with
PureOS pre-installed. Their Librem series is designed with security and
privacy in mind, including hardware kill switches for cameras and
microphones.
TUXEDO Computers: European company
offering various laptops with Ubuntu or TUXEDO OS pre-installed. They have a
good reputation for supporting open-source software.
Framework Laptop: While not pre-installed with
GNU/Linux, the Framework Laptop is designed with repairability,
upgradability, and customization in mind. It's fully compatible with various
GNU/Linux distributions and allows users to easily swap out components,
including the motherboard. Framework's commitment to right-to-repair
principles and transparent design makes it an excellent choice for
privacy-conscious users.
Pine64: Offers budget-friendly options like the
PineBook Pro, which comes with Manjaro Linux pre-installed. They focus on
open hardware and software.
Benefits of GNU/Linux-Friendly Laptops:
Guaranteed or well-tested hardware compatibility
Often come with optimized drivers and tweaks for better performance
Support companies that promote open-source software, privacy, and
sustainability
In the case of Framework, unparalleled repairability and upgradability
When choosing a GNU/Linux-friendly laptop, consider factors such as:
The manufacturer's commitment to privacy, security, and sustainability
Their history of providing timely updates and patches
The level of control they give users over their hardware
Repairability and upgradability of the device
Community reviews and experiences
Compatibility with your preferred GNU/Linux distribution
Remember, no solution is perfect, and it's always a good idea to do your own
research and stay informed about the latest developments in hardware security
and sustainability.
Preparing for the switch
Step 1: Backing up
First things first – let's make sure all your precious data is safe and sound.
Photos, Documents, Music, and other files
Make a list of important folders (Photos, Documents, Downloads, Music, etc.).
Copy these to an external hard drive or secure cloud storage.
Browser bookmarks
For Chrome: Click the three dots > Bookmarks and lists > Bookmark manager >
Export bookmarks
For Firefox: Click the library button (looks like books) > Show all bookmarks
Import and Backup > Export bookmarks to HTML
For Edge: Open edge://favorites/ > Click the three dots > Export favorites.
Your favorite programs
Make a list of all the programs you use regularly.
For each one, write down:
What you use it for
How often you use it
Head to AlternativeTo and search for Linux
alternatives for each program.
💡 Newbie Tip: Many popular programs like Firefox, VLC, and LibreOffice work on
both Windows and Linux!
Game saves (for the gamers out there)
For Steam games: Right-click the game > Properties > Local Files > Browse
Local Files > Find the "saves" folder and back it up
For other games: Google "[Game Name] save file location" and back up those
folders
Step 2: Creating Your GNU/Linux USB Stick
Think of this as creating a key to your new Linux home!
Download the ISO file for your chosen Linux distro.
Download a program called Etcher (it's free and
works on Windows).
Plug in a USB stick (at least 4GB).
Open Etcher, select your ISO file and your USB stick, then click "Flash!"
Side Note: This process will erase everything on your USB stick, so make sure
there's nothing important on it!
Step 3: Installing GNU/Linux
Exciting times – you're about to enter a new world!
Restart your computer and press F12 or Del repeatedly (the exact key varies
by computer).
Select your USB stick from the boot menu.
Once Linux loads, click "Install" and follow the on-screen instructions.
When it asks about installation type, choose "Erase disk and install" (make
sure you've backed everything up first!).
Create your user account and password.
Wait for installation to complete and restart your computer.
💡 Newbie Tip: If you're not ready to fully commit, you can choose "Install
alongside Windows" instead. This lets you choose between Windows and Linux when
you start your computer.
Step 4: Welcome to GNU/Linux! Now what?
Congratulations, you're now officially a GNU/Linux user! 🎉 Here's what to do
next:
Update Your System: The exact commands vary depending on your distribution.
Here are the commands for the distros we've discussed:
For Linux Mint, Zorin OS, Elementary OS, Pop!_OS (Debian/Ubuntu-based):
sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade
For Fedora:
sudo dnf upgrade
These commands ensure your new system has all the latest updates.
Restore Your Data:
Plug in your external drive or access your cloud storage.
Copy your files back to your new GNU/Linux home.
Set Up Your Browser:
Most distributions come with Firefox pre-installed. If you are confused
about which browser to choose, check
this!
Import your bookmarks from the file you saved earlier.
Install Your Favorite Programs:
Open your distribution's Software Center or Package Manager. The name might
vary (e.g., "Software" in GNOME-based distros, "Discover" in KDE-based
ones).
Search for and install the GNU/Linux alternatives you found earlier.
Explore and Customize:
Click around and get to know your new system.
Try changing the wallpaper or theme to make it feel like home. The process
for this varies by desktop environment, but it's usually found in the
"Settings" or "Preferences" menu.
💡 Tip: If you're unsure about anything, don't hesitate to search for "[Your
Distro Name] beginner guide" or visit your distribution's official forum or
wiki. The GNU/Linux community is incredibly helpful and welcoming to newcomers!
What nobody tells you (but really should!)
Alright, future GNU/Linux guru, now that you're eyeing your distro of choice,
let's talk about some GNU/Linux basics that'll make your new digital life a bit
easier. Think of this as your GNU/Linux cheat sheet – the stuff that'll make you
sound smart at geeky dinner parties!
Software Centers: Your New App Store (But Cooler) Remember how you used
to download sketchy .exe files? Kiss those days goodbye! Most GNU/Linux
distros come with their own "app stores" (we call them Software Centers).
It's like shopping for apps, but everything's free! Both Pop!_OS and Linux
Mint have super user-friendly ones. Shopping spree, anyone?
Updates, Updates, All in One Place Forget updating your OS and then
updating each app individually. GNU/Linux bundles all that into one smooth
process. It's like having a personal assistant for your computer who handles
all the boring update stuff.
Terminal: Not As Scary As It Looks (Promise!) Okay, the terminal might
look like you're hacking the Matrix, but it's actually pretty cool. While you
don't need it for everyday stuff, learning a few commands can make you feel
like a total tech wizard. Plus, it's great for impressing your friends!
Drivers: GNU/Linux Has You Covered (Mostly) GNU/Linux is pretty smart
about drivers. Most of the time, everything just works out of the box.
Occasionally, you might need to install an extra driver or two, especially
for some graphics cards. But don't worry, it's usually way easier than on
Windows!
Community: Welcome to the Friendliest Geek Squad Ever Got a problem? The
GNU/Linux community is like that super-smart, always-helpful neighbor.
Forums, subreddits, chat groups – there's always someone ready to help. Just
remember to show them you've at least tried Google first!
Patience is a Virtue (And Totally Worth It) Let's be real – there might
be a tiny learning curve. But stick with it! Once you get the hang of
GNU/Linux, you'll wonder how you ever lived without it. It's like learning to
ride a bike – a little wobbly at first, but soon you'll be popping wheelies!
(Metaphorically, of course. Please don't pop wheelies with your computer.)
Dual-Boot: For the Commitment-Phobes Not ready to go full GNU/Linux? No
problem! You can install GNU/Linux alongside Windows or macOS. It's like
having a cool apartment in the city without selling your comfy suburban home.
Privacy: Your Data, Your Rules GNU/Linux is like that friend who respects
your personal space. While it's generally more privacy-focused than other
OSes, it's always a good idea to review your privacy settings. Think of it as
setting up your digital boundaries.
Repositories: Your Software Buffet GNU/Linux uses these things called
repositories – think of them as all-you-can-eat buffets for software. They're
secure, constantly updated, and come pre-configured in distros like Pop!_OS
and Linux Mint. It's like having a gourmet chef for your apps!
There you have it – your crash course in GNU/Linux basics! Remember, every
GNU/Linux pro was once a beginner too. So don't be afraid to explore, ask
questions, and most importantly, have fun with your new OS. Before you know it,
you'll be the one explaining swap partitions at parties! (Okay, maybe aim for
cooler party tricks.)
FAQ
Q: Will I be able to run all my Windows programs on GNU/Linux? A: While many
programs have Linux versions or alternatives, not all Windows software runs
natively on GNU/Linux. However, tools like Wine can help run some Windows
programs on Linux. For specific software needs, check if there's a Linux version
or a suitable alternative before switching.
Q: Is GNU/Linux really more secure than Windows? A: Generally, yes.
GNU/Linux is less targeted by malware, has a more robust permission system, and
is often updated more quickly when vulnerabilities are found. However, no system
is 100% secure, and good security practices are still important.
Q: Do I need to be a programmer to use GNU/Linux? A: Not at all! Modern
GNU/Linux distributions are user-friendly and don't require programming
knowledge for everyday use. However, learning basic terminal commands can
enhance your experience.
Q: What if I need help with my new GNU/Linux system? A: The GNU/Linux
community is known for being helpful. You can find support on forums like Ask
Ubuntu, Linux Mint
Forums, or the specific forum for your chosen
distribution. Remember, most problems you encounter have probably been solved by
someone else before!
Additional resources
To help you on your GNU/Linux journey, here are some valuable resources:
r/linux: A vibrant community for Linux
enthusiasts.
Taking the leap to GNU/Linux might seem daunting at first, but it's a rewarding
journey towards digital freedom and privacy. Whether you're tired of intrusive
data collection, looking for a more stable system, or just curious about
alternatives, GNU/Linux offers a world of possibilities.
Remember, the GNU/Linux community is vast and supportive. Don't hesitate to
reach out for help, and don't be afraid to experiment. Your perfect setup is out
there, waiting for you to discover it.
Ready to make the switch? Download your chosen GNU/Linux distribution today and
take the first step towards true digital freedom!
We're the Ente team, and we know privacy policies can be a bit... well, boring.
But we believe your privacy is super important, so we've decided to break down
our policy into simple terms. Here's what you need to know about how
we handle your data:
1. Your data is yours
We can't see your photos, videos, or files. These are encrypted and only you
have the key to decrypt them. It's like we're holding a locked box for you, but
we can't peek inside.
2. No lock-ins
You can export your data anytime with a single click! Your memories, your rules.
3. You're in control
You can ask us to delete your data anytime. If you decide to leave Ente, we'll
wipe your data from our servers.
4. Minimal data collection
We only collect what we absolutely need to run our service. No extras, no fluff.
5. Minimal third-party dependencies
We use trusted partners only where absolutely necessary. We rely on open-source
tools and self-host them as much as possible.
6. GDPR compliant
We're fully compliant with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). This
means you have strong rights over your personal data, including the right to
access, correct, or delete your information. We take these responsibilities
seriously and have designed our systems to respect your privacy rights from the
ground up.
7. We're here to help!
Got questions? Concerns? Just want to chat about privacy? Reach out to us at
privacy@ente.io. You'll have a human responding to your queries!
Bottom line
At Ente, we believe your memories are yours alone. Our job is to keep them safe,
private, and always available to you. We've built our entire company around this
idea, and we're committed to being transparent about how we handle your data.
Thanks for trusting us with your memories.
- The Ente Team
P.S. For those who love the details, our full privacy policy is
always available on our website. But we hope this simplified version helps you
understand the core of what we're all about!
It is simple to collect photos from your friends and family using Ente, at the
end of a wedding or birthday party or a trip. They don't need an Ente account,
or even the Ente app.
Within the link sharing settings for a shared album, simply enable "Allow adding
photos".
Once enabled, this will allow anyone with the link to add photos to your album.
All your guests need is a web browser. They don't need an Ente account or app.
The experience of adding photos is simple, there is only one, direct, action -
Add photos.
We will ask the uploader to enter a name so that for when multiple people add
photos, you will be able to see at a glance who added which photo.
The full names are shown within the photo details. This information is stored
end to end encrypted, and can only be viewed by people who have access to the
photo.
This is the easiest and safest way for you to collect photos from guests at the
end of a party or trip. They don't need an app, they don't need an account, and
you get complete privacy and control over the photos you collect.
Wish you a ton of fun planning your event and collecting photos of your favorite
moments! If you need any help, drop a mail to
support@ente.io and we'll be happy to help!
We're the Ente team, and we know privacy policies can be a bit... well, boring.
But we believe your privacy is super important, so we've decided to break down
our policy into simple terms. Here's what you need to know about how
we handle your data:
1. Your data is yours
We can't see your photos, videos, or files. These are encrypted and only you
have the key to decrypt them. It's like we're holding a locked box for you, but
we can't peek inside.
2. No lock-ins
You can export your data anytime with a single click! Your memories, your rules.
3. You're in control
You can ask us to delete your data anytime. If you decide to leave Ente, we'll
wipe your data from our servers.
4. Minimal data collection
We only collect what we absolutely need to run our service. No extras, no fluff.
5. Minimal third-party dependencies
We use trusted partners only where absolutely necessary. We rely on open-source
tools and self-host them as much as possible.
6. GDPR compliant
We're fully compliant with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). This
means you have strong rights over your personal data, including the right to
access, correct, or delete your information. We take these responsibilities
seriously and have designed our systems to respect your privacy rights from the
ground up.
7. We're here to help!
Got questions? Concerns? Just want to chat about privacy? Reach out to us at
privacy@ente.io. You'll have a human responding to your queries!
Bottom line
At Ente, we believe your memories are yours alone. Our job is to keep them safe,
private, and always available to you. We've built our entire company around this
idea, and we're committed to being transparent about how we handle your data.
Thanks for trusting us with your memories.
- The Ente Team
P.S. For those who love the details, our full privacy policy is
always available on our website. But we hope this simplified version helps you
understand the core of what we're all about!
Our pricing was structured such that Ente could run on its own as a sustainable
business over subscriptions.
We knew this model would get in the way of widespread adoption, but we wanted to
thwart existential risks and were comfortable playing the long game.
Time has passed, quickly, and today we make our subscription plans more
mainstream.
Introducing,
5GB forever free
Starting today, all free users will have access to 5 GB of storage, forever.
This means, you can rely on Ente to store and share your most precious memories
without worries. All you've to do is use Ente once a year to keep your account
active.
Our business has grown to a point where this makes for a sensible marketing
spend and we believe this will make Ente more accessible.
Affordable subscriptions
Thanks to you, along with our business, our infrastructure has scaled. This has
helped us negotiate better prices with our underlying storage providers.
So we're passing on the savings, by recaliberating our pricing models.
In case you’re unaware, Meta launched Llama3.1 405B parameters model and made the weights available for public usage with a fairly generous license. Of course, Meta has been doing this with the older versions of Llama as well. But given the benchmark results of the model, and how it measures against GPT 4o and Claude 3.5, it feels like a massive strategic move
Why?
With the open weights, anyone can offer a consumer and enterprise product that is competitive with Open AI and Anthropic at a significantly lower price, thereby undercutting their business models
With an almost parity with Open AI and Anthropic (at least for the time being), the competitive advantage moves from model performance to distribution - something Meta has a massive advantage over its competitors
Meta has already started using this advantage - with Meta AI getting integrated with its existing products. Moreover, with its integration on Meta Rayban Glasses and Quest, it is also able to build a very strong footing in what Meta has always considered a weak strategic point - control over the hardware/device ecosystem
It is not difficult to see why this seems like a big move from Meta, and why a lot of people are calling them the new leader in the AI race after the launch
If one joins the dots, it is easy to see this as a terrifying news for the privacy community
Meta’s primary business (and a large cash cow) is advertisement, which gets bigger and better the more deeply it knows about its users
Consumer Value from AI products will increase rapidly as it knows more and more about the user’s life and preferences
Meta is probably one of the top 3 data collectors in the world (others being Google and Bytedance)
If implemented well, this leads to a positive feedback loop, where one’s use of Llama on Meta products leads to more data collection which improves the product to pull you in deeper, while also making Meta more money. All at the cost of the user’s privacy which continues to diminish as Meta knows more and more details about the user
So, are there alternatives for users who care about their privacy? Yes, but they are far from perfect at this point in time
The most known one is how Apple has marketed they are approaching this. Basically, use a combination of small models on device for a majority of use cases For others use mid-size cloud based models for the remaining such that no data is logged. In the extreme case, rely on large cloud based models - like OpenAI in case of Apple. There are obvious issues with this - the main ones being that the user is not aware which requests are getting served locally vs which ones are going to cloud; and the continuous verifiability of what is happening with the data that is sent to the cloud. Of course, open source codebase will help solve this - but Apple is unlikely to do that
The main reason, Apple has to take such a convoluted path is because devices are not at a state where all requests can run locally. The new Siri is not even expected to work on iPhone 15 due to this limitation. Though, one positive that will come out of this is showing that small models can take care of pretty much all consumer use cases, and if hardware improves quickly enough, all AI compute can happen on device - which is the ideal solution to the problem. Things seem to be going on the right path - both Apple and Qualcomm are aggressively investing to get their SoCs more and more powerful. WASM is allowing compute to be used efficiently by web application. And because of this, products like WebLLM, GPT4All are now usable in some of the latest consumer hardware. However, there are still a lot of IFs if this is going to be a sustainable path for the long run - largely depending on hardware improvements to keep up with consumer requirements for AI based products
Another alternative path is for encryption tech to evolve such that you can run compute on encrypted input to produce encrypted output without ever having to decrypt the data. This, theoretically, allows for encrypted requests to be send to untrusted cloud based models. However, this is still a theoretical construct. While it can be used for simple NN models, the compute required to train an LLM with this mechanism is believed to be impossible right now. And even if this is solved, the inference would be slow enough to be non-usable. So unless something dramatic happens, this is only a pipe dream
As you can see, there are no great privacy guaranteed solutions to this problem right now. However, with Apple jumping into this, and given their stance on privacy, one can expect significant improvements in hardware such that on device AI for all usecases becomes a reality. In the meantime, just be careful about what you’re sharing with Meta and other AI products
Remember that dusty shoebox of old photos you found in Grandma's attic? Or that
album from your parents' wedding that's starting to yellow at the edges? These
aren't just pictures – they're time machines, portals to the past, and
irreplaceable pieces of your family's story. But here's the kicker: they won't
last forever unless we step in.
At Ente, we're all about preserving memories (digitally, that is), but we know
that those physical snapshots hold a special place in your heart. So, for the
sake of your great-grand kids, let's roll up our sleeves and dive into the world
of photo preservation.
Preserving history
Need inspiration? Look no further than the impressive preservation efforts of
the Library of Congress. Their Civil War photograph preservation project stands
as a testament to the power of proper photo care.
"These photographs are national treasures," says Adrienne Lundgren, Senior
Photograph Conservator at the Library of Congress. "They provide an incredible
window into one of the most defining periods of American history."
The project has successfully conserved thousands of fragile 150-year-old images,
making them accessible to the public while ensuring their longevity. Some key
achievements include:
Preserving over 7,000 glass plate negatives from the Civil War era
Digitizing the entire collection for online access
Developing new conservation techniques for 19th-century photographic processes
"Proper storage and digitization have been key to this success," Lundgren notes.
"These techniques aren't just for national institutions – many can be applied by
individuals preserving their own family photographs."
Black and White: Generally stable, but watch for silver mirroring
Color: More prone to fading, so keep them in darker storage
Polaroids: Super sensitive! Individual sleeves and dark storage are a must
Negatives and Slides: Store separately in format-specific archival materials
First aid
For minor issues, try these quick fixes:
Dusty photos? Gently brush with a soft, clean brush or use compressed air.
Slightly torn? Apply archival tape to the back (never the front!).
Curled edges? Flatten between acid-free paper with a light weight on top.
Always test on a less precious photo first!
Wrap up
Preserving your family photos might seem like a big task, but it's really about
taking small, consistent steps to protect your legacy. Start with one album, one
box, or even just that one precious photo of your grandparents on their wedding
day.
Remember, at Ente, we're all about keeping memories safe in the digital realm.
But we know that those physical photos hold a special kind of magic. By
following this guide, you're ensuring that the smiles, the awkward hairstyles,
and the love captured in those images will continue to tell your family's story
for generations to come.
Note: This blog post is for informational purposes only. While we strive to
provide accurate and up-to-date information, please consult with a professional
conservator for specific preservation needs, especially for valuable or severely
damaged photographs.
All the internet applications you use on a daily basis like TikTok, Google Photos, Netflix, etc. need servers to store and process data. These servers are either owned by these large companies, or rented out from other companies like Google, Amazon, Microsoft. When you use any of these applications, you share some data with them. This data is stored and processed by these servers.
Theoretically, these companies can access this data, and use them as they want - improve their algorithms, train their AI models or serve better advertisements. Moreover, basis the local laws, this data can also be shared with the government. There are 2 ways to ensure that your data cannot be accessed by anyone - a) applications that use verifiable end-to-end encryption ensures that even while your data is stored in such server farms, no-one except you can make any sense out of it; and b) self hosting your own server, which we will discuss in this post.
Self-hosting is the practice of running and maintaining your own server to host various services and applications, rather than relying on third-party services. In simpler terms, it's like having your own personal data center at home or in your office.
When you self-host, you're in charge of everything – from the hardware (like the computer or server) to the software (the programs and applications) that run on it. This gives you complete control over your data and services, but it also means you're responsible for keeping everything running smoothly.
Who is Self-Hosting For?
Self-hosting isn't just for tech experts. It's for anyone who wants control over their digital life and wants to put in the effort to learn, setup and maintain their systems. Some people who might be interested in self hosing -
Privacy-conscious individuals: If you're worried about big tech companies having access to your data, self-hosting allows you to keep your information under your control.
Tech enthusiasts: Self-hosting can be a fun hobby, if you love tinkering with technology and learning new things.
Small businesses: Companies that want to keep their data in-house, have specific needs that aren't met by off-the-shelf solutions, or want to save cost of subscriptions
Educators and students: Self-hosting is a great way to learn about networking, system administration, and various technologies like Docker
Creative professionals: Video Editors, photographers, musicians have a massive amount of raw files that need storage with a high amount of control - self hosting is typically the goto solution
Anyone looking to save money: While there can be upfront costs, self-hosting can sometimes be cheaper in the long run compared to paying for multiple cloud services.
Why Should You Consider Self-Hosting?
There are several reasons to consider self-hosting:
Independence: You're not reliant on third-party services that might change their terms, increase prices, or even decide to shut down.
Control: Self Hosting gives complete control over your the services you use and your data including who has access to your information.
Cost savings: While there may be upfront costs, self-hosting can be more economical in the long run, especially if you're currently paying for multiple cloud services.
Privacy: Your data stays on your own hardware, reducing the risk of it being accessed by third parties without your knowledge.
Customization: You can setup your system to serve your exact needs, installing and configuring software exactly how you want it.
What Can You Self-Host?
There are a large number of services that you can self host - whether its for personal use or for your business.
For You and Your Family
Services
UseCase
Benefits
Examples
File Storage and Synchronization
Create your personal cloud storage
Full control over files, no storage limits except hardware
There are a bunch of other services that can be self hosted. You should do your own research to discover the ones that match your needs. There are a lot of communities on self hosting like r/selfhosted that can help you with the same as well.
We should also point out that there are a lot of services that cannot be self hosted - atleast not without significant drop in quality
Global Scale Social Networks like Facebook, Twitter, Tiktok, Instagram, etc.
Search Engines like Google that require massive amount of data and sophisticated algorithms
App Stores like Google Play Stores, Apple App Stores, Steam, etc. which requires a large developer ecosystem
Video Streaming Services like Netflix, Youtube which requires a massive library of content
Marketplaces like Uber, Doordash which require an ecosystem of drives, restaurants or other suppliers
While you can't self-host these large-scale services, remember that there are often smaller, self-hosted alternatives that can meet similar needs for individuals or small groups. The key is to identify which services are most important to you and find suitable self-hosted options for those.
How to Start Self-Hosting?
Setting up self hosting can sound very intimidating to begin. However, starting small with a few core services that you need would help you learn, improve and then start hosting more and more services over time. This guide should help you get started
Assess Your Needs and Skills:
Before starting, consider what services you want to self-host and evaluate your technical skills. Start with simpler projects if you're a beginner, and gradually work your way up to more complex setups.
Choose Your Hardware:
You have several options for self-hosting hardware:
Repurposed PC: An old computer can be an excellent starting point.
Single-board computer: Devices like Raspberry Pi are popular for small-scale hosting.
Network Attached Storage (NAS): Purpose-built for file storage and often supports additional services.
Dedicated server: For more demanding applications or if you need more power.
Select an Operating System:
Linux distributions are popular for self-hosting due to their stability and free, open-source nature. Some options include:
Ubuntu Server: User-friendly and widely supported.
Debian: Known for its stability and security.
Proxmox: Allows you to run multiple virtual machines and containers.
Set Up Your Network:
Configure your router to allow port forwarding for services you want to access outside your home network.
Consider setting up a Dynamic DNS service to easily access your server from the internet.
Implement a reverse proxy (like Nginx Proxy Manager or Traefik) to manage access to multiple services.
Implement Security Measures:
Use strong passwords and consider setting up SSH key authentication.
Keep your system and applications updated.
Use a firewall to control incoming and outgoing traffic.
Consider setting up a VPN for secure remote access.
Choose and Install Your Services:
Start with one or two services and gradually expand. Some beginner-friendly options include:
Nextcloud for file storage and synchronization
Jellyfin for media streaming
Bitwarden for password management
Use Container Technologies:
Docker and Docker Compose can simplify the process of installing and managing services. They allow you to:
Easily deploy applications without worrying about dependencies
Quickly update services
Isolate applications from each other for better security
Set Up Backups:
Implement a robust backup strategy to protect your data:
Use the 3-2-1 backup rule: 3 copies of your data, on 2 different media, with 1 copy off-site
Consider automated backup solutions like Duplicati or Borg Backup
Monitor Your Services:
Set up monitoring to keep track of your server's health and performance:
Use tools like Prometheus and Grafana for detailed monitoring
Set up alerts to notify you of any issues
Join Self-Hosting Communities:
Connect with other self-hosters to learn, share experiences, and get help:
Participate in forums dedicated to the specific software you're using
Learning and Improvement:
Experiment with new services and technologies
Stay updated on best practices for security and performance
Consider donating or contributing to open-source projects you use
Self-hosting is a learning process. Start small, be patient, and ask for help whenever you need it. With experience, you'll be able to handle more complex projects and over time create a self-hosted environment that perfectly suits your needs.
A Word of Caution
Like any technology choice, self-hosting comes with its own set of pros and cons. While we have talked about the value of self hosting, its only fair to call out the risks and challenges
Technical complexity: Setting up and maintaining a self-hosted system requires technical knowledge and can be challenging for beginners. Though this is also a learning opportunity.
Time investment: Self-hosting requires maintenance, updates, and troubleshooting, which can be time-consuming.
Upfront costs: There would be initial expenses for hardware and potentially for software licenses, depending on what you're hosting.
Security: You're in charge of keeping your system secure, which includes setting up the right security configuration, regular updates, and regular monitoring for potential threats.
Data loss: You risk losing your data if something goes wrong with your hardware or software, unless proper backup strategies are implemented
Support: Unlike commercial services, you won't have a dedicated support team to help you if something goes wrong. Though there should be an active community where you might find answers
Power and internet requirements: Your self-hosted services need a stable power supply and internet connection to be accessible from outside your network. If your internet or power goes down, you might lose access to your services when you're away from home.
Scalability: Home internet connections and consumer-grade hardware may struggle with high traffic or resource-intensive applications
Ente is an end-to-end encrypted, private home for your photos and videos. While our clients (where most of the work happens) has been open source for quite some time, we recently made our entire codebase open source. For a product claiming privacy, it was important that our code is available to everyone for scrutiny. This also attracted the self hosting community to Ente, and while our primary product is cloud based, we have now also made it easier to self host Ente. Given Ente is E2EE, self hosting would lead to even stronger protections, as even the system admin wouldnt be able to view your photos and videos - making it one of the most privacy friendly system, whether its on the cloud or self hosted.
Choosing the right web browser is crucial for protecting our online privacy. At
Ente, we believe in the power of open-source solutions and data-driven
decisions. Today, we'll explore the best browsers for privacy-conscious users,
focusing on open-source options for both desktop and mobile platforms.
Why Open Source Matters
Open-source browsers offer several advantages:
Transparency: Anyone can inspect the code, ensuring no hidden tracking or
data collection.
Community-driven development: Bugs and security issues are often
identified and fixed quickly.
Customization: Users can modify the browser to suit their needs.
Independence: Not controlled by large corporations with potential
conflicts of interest.
Our Analysis Method
We've based our recommendations on the comprehensive tests conducted by
PrivacyTests.org, a reputable source for browser
privacy comparisons. Their tests cover various aspects of privacy protection,
including:
Fingerprinting Resistance
Tracker Blocking
Cookie Protection
Desktop Browsers
Based on the latest data from PrivacyTests.org (updated June 2024):
While scoring lower out-of-the-box, Firefox remains a solid choice when properly
configured:
Extensive privacy-focused add-ons available
Regular security updates
Customizable privacy settings
While Firefox's default settings aren't as privacy-focused as the others, it
becomes a powerful privacy tool when properly configured and enhanced with the
right extensions. (We recommend checking out this hardening
guide)
Notable Mention
Ungoogled Chromium
(Score: 44/88): A de-Googled version of Chromium for users who prefer its
engine but want to avoid Google's reach.
Android Browsers
Based on the latest data from PrivacyTests.org (updated June 2024):
Sync with desktop Firefox for a consistent experience
Best for: Users who use Firefox on desktop and want a similar experience on
mobile.
iOS browsers are more limited in their ability to implement certain privacy
features due to Apple's restrictions. This results in generally lower scores
compared to their desktop or Android counterparts.
It's important to note that while these scores provide a good baseline, the
effectiveness of a browser's privacy features can also depend on user
configuration and browsing habits. We recommend trying out a few options to see
which best fits your needs and comfort level.
Technical Deep Dive: Key Privacy Features
Understanding the technical aspects of browser privacy can help you make more
informed decisions. Let's explore three crucial privacy features:
Fingerprinting Resistance
Fingerprinting is a technique websites use to identify and track users based on
unique combinations of their browser and device characteristics. Fingerprinting
resistance works by:
Standardizing or randomizing certain browser outputs (like User-Agent strings)
Limiting access to APIs that can reveal unique system information
Introducing controlled "noise" to make fingerprints less reliable
Browsers like Brave, Mullvad, LibreWolf, and Tor excel at fingerprinting
resistance, making it harder for websites to track you across the internet.
Tracker Blocking
Tracker blocking prevents third-party scripts from collecting data about your
browsing behavior. Effective tracker blocking involves:
Maintaining and regularly updating lists of known tracking domains
Implementing heuristic detection to identify potential new trackers
Blocking network requests to these trackers
Preventing the execution of tracking scripts
Browsers like Brave, Mullvad, LibreWolf, Tor, and Firefox (with extensions like
uBlock Origin) offer robust tracker blocking, significantly reducing the amount
of data collected about your online activities.
Cookie Protection
Cookies are small pieces of data stored by websites on your device, often used
for tracking. Advanced cookie protection features include:
Partitioning cookies: Isolating cookies by the website that created them,
preventing cross-site tracking
Automatic cookie deletion: Removing cookies when you close the browser or
after a set period
Blocking third-party cookies: Preventing sites from setting cookies for
domains other than the one you're visiting
Dynamic cookie policies: Adjusting cookie permissions based on your
interaction with a site
Firefox's Total Cookie Protection is an example of advanced cookie protection
mechanisms that significantly enhance user privacy.
These features make it harder for advertisers and other third parties to track
your online activities across different websites.
Firefox Multi-Account Containers: Different online identities, different
color-coded tabs. Cookies are isolated by container, allowing you to use
multiple accounts.
Check out a curated collection of privacy extensions
here.
Why Not Chrome, Edge, or Safari?
While popular, these browsers have several privacy concerns:
Chrome: Developed by Google, a company whose business model relies on data
collection.
Edge: Microsoft's browser sends identifiers and web page information to
Microsoft servers.
Safari: While better than Chrome or Edge, it still lacks some advanced
privacy features found in the recommended browsers.
According to PrivacyTests.org, these browsers failed many privacy tests,
particularly in areas of tracking prevention and fingerprinting resistance.
Transitioning to a Privacy-Focused Browser
Switching to a new browser doesn't have to be daunting. Here are some tips:
Import your bookmarks and saved passwords from your current browser.
Take time to explore the privacy settings and customize them to your needs.
Be patient as you adjust to the new interface and features.
Performance Considerations
While privacy-focused browsers may use slightly more resources due to their
enhanced features, the difference is often negligible on modern hardware. Many
users report that browsers like Brave actually feel faster due to built-in ad
blocking.
Syncing Across Devices
Most privacy-focused browsers offer syncing capabilities:
Brave and Firefox use encrypted sync.
Tor Browser intentionally doesn't sync to maintain anonymity.
A Note on Browser Extensions
While extensions can enhance privacy, they can also pose risks. Stick to
well-known, open-source extensions and only install what you need to minimize
potential vulnerabilities.
Conclusion
Remember, no browser is perfect, and privacy often comes at the cost of some
convenience. Consider your personal needs and threat model when making your
choice.
While Ente protects your memories, having a privacy-focused browser helps you
keep your other activities private. If you care about technology and privacy as
much as we do, join our community.
I was just saying that it's nice to be here, chatting with you guys on video for
a change. We're dialing in from Ente's office in Bangalore. It's 9:30 PM here,
which is why it's a bit dark outside. I've got Laurens here with me.
Hi, guys. My name is Laurens. My path with Ente started, like, almost 3 years
ago as as a customer . Same as you guys basically. I was in the community and
that's how the ball started rolling. I joined as an intern and now I'm working
full time here. Also moved to Bangalore, and I work on the the ML stuff. Right
now, faces, is the main thing that I'm working on.
Let me quickly give an introduction to what we are planning to do today.
You guys all submitted your questions. Thanks a lot for that. And you also
voted on it. So that's great. We need some kind of ordering on how we go through
the questions. I'll be asking the questions. I have them here. Vishnu will be
answering them.
Two introverts sitting in front of camera. So, it'll be like a casual easy
conversation. But we just really hope that you guys like it. We really enjoy how
much is happening in the community. And that we are thinking about how can we
engage with the community more. And we thought this would be a nice way to do
it. So, yeah. Let's see how it goes. If you guys like this and find this useful
then I think we can do this more regularly, like maybe once a quarter or
something. We'll figure it out. But, yeah, for now, let's get started.
Like I said, everything is in order except for the first question just because
this is a nice question to kind of start off with.
So the first question is...
What's the story behind Ente? Why are you building Ente? How was the company founded?
That's a nice question to ease into the AMA.
For those of you who don't know, before building Ente, I spent a couple of
months working at Google in Zurich, Switzerland. Not the best time of my life to
be honest. Because not a lot of things happen at Google. It's a very slow moving
company. Before Google I had worked at a bunch of startups. Really nice places
to work at. In general, I'm very high energy person, and I like being
productive. So for someone like me, it was not a mentally great place to be in.
And, the other problem with Google is that they don't let you own the pet
projects that you work on. If you want to work on something, by default they own
the IP. I'm not sure if that has changed now. At least back then there was this
elaborate process of getting approval if you wanted to own whatever it is that
you are working on, and I had a lot of spare time at hand. If there are any
Googlers here, you can check out go/iarc, you will know what I'm talking
about.
What would happen is, this committee would go through your proposal and would
approve it if it turned out that, whatever you're trying to build did not
compare to any of Google's business units. And the problem with Google is that
they're practically building everything under the sun. And it makes it
incredibly difficult for you to , get through the process. So it was a very
frustrating time for me, not being able to build anything. So I knew that I had
to quit and do something else. And the question was what.
A couple of things were happening at that point. Me and my wife had just gotten
married. We had just moved to Switzerland, and we were traveling around quite a
bit in Europe and clicking a lot of photos. And, this is around the same time
when I realized that I should probably not give Google access to all of my
photos.
So I did the next best thing. I bought an iPhone, moved all of my data to
iCloud. Surprise surprise, my wife could no longer access all of my library.
Because she was still on an Android device. Apple being Apple has a very tight
lock on their ecosystem and where their data can be accessed from.
This completely broke all the sharing workflows we had for us. So we had to get
out of Apple.
The next place we went to was Dropbox because that is supposed to be the cross
platform guy. They do have apps everywhere. But the problem with Dropbox was
that they don't care about photos and much less about consumers. So it's not a
great UX.
Which is when I found out that there's nobody else solving this problem of
building a safe space for normal consumers like me to preserve my photos.
That got a lot of things rolling in my head.
For me the other aspect of this was that I'm very sentimentally attached to my
photos. I grew up around a lot of photos. My dad used to run around us as kids
with his Kodak and Minolta cameras. So for me, this is like a very personal
thing to build and that checked a lot of boxes because I realized that this is
something that I would not give up on, because of the sentimental angle to it.
For me, that is a core value as well. To play really long term games.
In 2020 I came back home to Kerala, India. This was right when COVID hit.
I started working on Ente.
The first project that I started working on was quite different from where we
have ended up. It was a hardware device. It was a private Google Photos server.
If you guys want to check it out, the landing page for that is still up. Yeah.
You guys can check out at https://orma.in
It was just literally like a private Google photo server.
And then I realized that the problem with building hardware is that it's
incredibly hard to monetize and scale. Especially without VC funding. And,
venture capital was not something I was, very eager to explore at that moment. A
year into building I realized this is not really gonna work. Then I pivoted and
I started building a cloud based service instead with a layer of encryption
between because I didn't want access to any of your photos. That was the whole
point behind this.
We launched the product a couple of months later on Reddit first and then
HackerNews. Somewhere in between, Bob, Bob is Neeraj, our cofounder, and CTO.
Bob joined, and that is, the best thing that happened to Ente and to all of us.
That gave a lot of momentum. And since then, it's been 4 years. We've just been
building, and it's we've had a good time. That's it, so here I am telling you
guys about this story.
Will Ente always treat GrapheneOS users with the same importance as other users, like you do now?
This is also a really nice question because it, gives me more of an excuse to
tell you more about my origin story.
So, see, I'm a programmer. I have been building stuff since high school. I think
8th grade is when I started building websites and templates and just building,
like, good looking stuff and which is why I'm very very finicky about pixels in
general. I think Pragadees will know that it makes me a very difficult person to
work with when it comes to design.
Then I went to college in 2009, which is Android started gaining popularity.
This is when Android phones started hitting, India as a market. And, I found
that whole thing really fascinating. There was this programmable device that you
could handle the palm of your hands. This was very different from what we were
used to. Symbian is what we had until then. Android was on a league of its own.
I emotionally blackmailed my Dad into buying an Android phone at the point. It
was a Samsung Galaxy S3. It's a mid-end device. It was $150 at that point. $150
was a lot of money for our family at that point. We come from a very middle
class household. And I'm very grateful to my dad for taking such a blind bet on
me in general. So dad if you're listening, thank you!
That was my foray into open source as well, because Samsung has stopped shipping
OTA updates for my device.
So the first thing I did was compile the latest AOSP, for my device, and that's
how everything started. Then I joined this froum called XDA-Developers which is
where Android developers hung out at that point. That's where where CyanogenMod
was born. LineageOS is a fork of CyanogenMod.
That's where stack envy kicked in. I felt OS was not cool enough, so started
working on kernels. I used to maintain a bunch of kernels for Sony Xperia
devices. This is how I also got my first job.
Long story short, I look at all of these projects with a lot of fondness because
this is where I grew up. Be it Lineage, Graphene, Calyx, it's really nice to see
these communities shape up and push these projects forward and not let AOSP
exist in a silo.
So for those sentimental reasons, I value GrapheneOS quite a bit. I think what
they're doing in general with pushing technology forward, pushing privacy and
security forward. It's really nice to see. It takes a lot of balls to make the
promises they make, and deliver on those promises. In general I look up to them.
This is the sentimental angle to this.
From a business perspective as well, from support tickets there are quite a few
users on Graphene, who help us out with debug logs and just in general a very
helpful community. So we get money, we gotta keep supporting the community.
Long answer short, yes. We really appreciate Graphene and everyone that is
helping us give in the community. Especially the Graphene people are super kind,
super helpful. Long story short, we will keep focusing on Graphene.
Will the semantic search and face recognition get faster and better over time?
Yes. We're a company who's very heavily betting on ML running on device. We
believe computing will get better and models smaller. And there are not a lot of
companies who are getting these models to run on mobile. The reason we're doing
it is because we believe this is the future, and this is where we should be
placing the bets. So it's a very strong yes.
Will Ente make a Contacts app?
v1 of Photos first. Because there's a long way to go to get there. We don't want
to try and do too many things.
We do feel the need by the way. We personally feel the need. Bob has been
pitching this forever. It does make a lot of sense.
Shipping the first version of any product is the easiest thing. What happens
after that is the harder part. Providing support, iteratively improving the
product. Lot of work that goes behind it.
If we were to stick Ente's brand on any product, we would want that to be
something which is very good. Like, it gives you an excellent customer
experience. And, we are not at a point where we can do that . But we definitely
want to do it.
Even with respect to photos and contacts, there's a lot of synergy, like, in
terms of how we want to share photos in the future. Like, if you could set up a
system like Signal where it's one tap sharing, there's a lot of workflows it
would enable as well. So, it's a yes, but, not right now. Soon.
Improving the video player
I feel you. The level of support we have for videos is not great. There's a lot
of work to be done, especially on the streaming side. It's massive amount of
work. So we know exactly what needs to be done, but it will take us a couple of
months to execute.
So this is something that we've parked for, until we've done face recognition.
We will do it because videos are a first class citizen for us. When we get to it
is when we will solve the problems you've mentioned. Those are easier problems
to solve, with playback speed and zoom. It's just client side stuff that we have
to do.
So will do! Soon!
Custom lockscreen for Trash
Custom lock screen, yes. We're already working on it. Trash, not right now.
We'll have to figure it out. Thanks for the feedback will keep this in mind.
Gender recognition within face recognition
I guess this is like the one question that I'll answer since this is basically
is what I am working on. First of all, like the disclaimer, this is kind of
basically one of the reasons that it is still in beta. We are still working on
it. And I have seen this before also with me. I think usually it is family
members though. And sometimes it's kinda interesting to see like, oh, I guess I
look like my mom or something. But yeah, I understand also that maybe this is
not what you want. You want just direct correct suggestions. And for that I can
say, yeah, we are working working to fix that and to get that better. Even now
that it's in beta, we are, experimenting with a different type of clustering,
which we expect will already solve this. So that's kind of what I am aiming for
now. Have the better clustering and that should ideally solve this problem.
I don't want to get too technical into it. But basically, we are working on it.
Like, and even if the clustering won't work, there's also other ways of of
fixing this. But ideally, the clustering itself should fix it. Yeah. I don't
want to get too technical. But, definitely, we are working on it. Definitely,
you can expect suggestions and faces in general, like we said before, over time,
it will keep going getting better.
Offering a cheaper service
They mentioned about us, promising cheaper plans. I don't remember promising
cheaper plans. But I do think we've to make Ente more affordable for a lot of
folks because there is a barrier to entry. And, it's not just because Ente is
end to end encrypted. It's more because we keep 3 copies of data. We have 3
replicas.
Google can definitely subsidize this a lot more. I don't know why Google is
charging. I think they're charging just to not seem suspicious.
While we've got a sustainable business to run. But what we would like to do is,
there are multiple ways to approach this. One is reduce number of replicas or
offer a plan with less replicas. The other way is to experiment with pricing
pricing and maybe offer smaller tiers, like, cheaper tiers upfront.
If we play with pricing I think a lot is possible. We've not been experimenting
as much as we should. We'll be doing it next quarter. So let's see. The idea is
to try and make Ente more affordable. That's definitely the goal.
Which platform is the hardest to develop software for?
It's hard everywhere.
Relatively perhaps server is a bit simpler because, because you just pass around
encrypted blocks. So it does make things a little simpler.
But, there is other complexity. In terms of maintaining infrastructure,
maintaining reliability, resilience. For a company of this size or for a product
of this maturity, we have incredibly mature server. I'm not sure how many of you
guys are looking to our source code, for museum - museum is our server and a lot
of it doesn't show. The maturity of our infra is really high. So it's it's not
like that is very easy either.
But if you were to compare it with, say, mobile, right, wherein compute is
scarce resource. Mobile is much harder to build not. And even with web, a lot of
the APIs that we want to use are cutting edge and do not work in half the
browsers.
Client side engineering in an end-to-end encrypted landscape is very difficult.
It's hard.
Also because of the expectations you come with - the benchmarks that you have
for Ente is apps like Google Photos or Instagram. To meet those benchmarks is
not easy.
But hard games are worth playing. There's joy in doing hard things.
How big is the Ente team?
There are 12 folks on the payroll in one way or another.
There are 8 of us who are working full time on Ente. 4 folks who are working on
Engineering.
There is Ashil who works on mobile. There is Laurens runs all the ML stuff.
There is Manav who looks at web, desktop, infra. There is Bob who practically
does everything. Then there are other 4 of us who look at product and support
and marketing.
Then there are 4 interns, or folks who are working part time. Prateek is the guy
who has been maintaining Auth for a couple of months now. We've got James, most
of you know James. He has been working on a lot of cool projects. Like cast and
passkeys. He is working on something cool right now, I can't wait to show you
guys.
We've more folks. Aman was the one who shipped share-link-preview feature. We've
got Atyab working on dashboards.
There are a lot of volunteers as well. Recently Sooraj has started contributing
to our blog and helping us with content in general. There is Fr_g (Brogio) who
has been helping us run Discord since god knows when. Lot of folks who help with
translations.
There are a lot of really nice folks whose kindness we are running on. Friends,
like Rahul who has drawn the ducky, and continues to draw illustrations for us.
Coming back, the core team is 8. And it's intentionally small because it's much
easier for us to move the way we want to move. We feel this is effective, and we
hope you feel this is effective as well!
Vision for Ente 10 years from now
That's a loaded question.
10 years is a very long time frame. A lot of things we would like to accomplish.
Primarily we'd like to be the photos company, and that's a very aggressive
mission. I feel it takes a very long time to build very solid enduring
companies, but I would like to build that company.
On the company front, we would also like to be the company that families trust
to share and pass down data.
From a tech perspective, we would want to be the guys who are pushing local AI
forward.
From an internal people perspective, I would want to work on making myself
replaceable in this decade so that even if I'm not around things just keep
running.
From a product perspective, we want to be that very friendly consumer brand that
people attach positive emotions to.
This is a very loaded question, and I could keep going on, but I hope you get
the gist of where we want to be.
What privacy service would you like to see developed?
Contacts, like we discussed, we defintely want to see that.
Personally for me, I take a lot of notes. I journal quite a bit. I write down
quite a bit of things.
For me, when I used to use iOS, I used to use this app called Craft, which used
to work pretty well. And it made writing very delightful, and I used to enjoy
writing. Since I moved to Android, I've been using Notesnook and Standard Notes
on and off. And both good products, but, there is a level of fluidity or magic
that Craft presented which I miss quite a bit. And, I think, at least at
Notesnook Abdullah is shipping crazy fast. So I think we might get there.
In general notes, from a personal perspective. I would like a very very fluid
notes app that offers end-to-end encryption.
But we are not building that, please don't get any ideas!
How many users does Ente have?
We have around 50,000 users.
I would like to be a lot more open about our metrics. I would like to start
behaving like a public company in a sense. Where in we publish quarterly
reports, earnings, and metrics in general.
I would love to have a dashboard like ente.io/public. It will happen, soon. We
just haven't gotten around to it. Not because, we have fiduciary duty or
anything, but just from a perspective of transparency. I think that's what
everyone deserves. We should be open and we will get to it.
If at all this question was a proxy for whether or not we are gonna survive or
whether we need extra investor or VC funding to make it, the answer is no. We
are good right now.
In fact the last month is when I took my first salary in 4 years. But all of us
could be earning a lot more. We should be paying people a lot more. That is my
problem as a founder to solve. Something that I have to work on.
Flatpak support
I don't have a lot of context, but I remember there being a lot of challenges.
If you look at GitHub discussions, there is a well documented thread which Manav
has maintained on what has happened and where we are right now.
Definitely we'd like to be everywhere. Distribution should not be a problem. But
there are some technical things that are getting in the way. If you guys are
interested, please, check out Github. We have nothing against Flatpaks. We have
to choose what we focus on.
Legacy
For me, it's that when I die, I want my wife and daughter to be able to access
all the photos that I've clicked, contacts in the future, Locker has all the
documents that they should have access to and instructions on what to do with
each of these things. Legacy ties into Locker that way. That's how we perceive
the product.
Private ChatGPT alternative
No, that is not our forte.
There are companies who have raised hundreds of millions of dollars who are
doing all the research and training.
Where we'd like to build expertise is on deploying these models on devices, and
to get Local AI up and running when all the models are available.
I think that is the game to play. I've become better at dealing with stack envy.
There is a lot of value we can create by being that company who is getting
things in the hands of consumers.
I'm pretty sure there will be some LLM, I was seeing LLM a few days back, and
there is llama.cpp. These things run on device. I'm sure, pretty soon in a
couple of years, if not the next year we will be able to get those running on
mobile.
I can totally envision Locker where we can have semantic search with your
documents. "When is my tax due", "When is my fixed deposit maturing", and have a
Q&A with your documents.
What's the goal of Ente?
No global domination plans.
I feel with just Photos, it's an ambitious goal in itself. To beat Google Photos
or Apple photos.
In general there's this core philosphy of doing just one thing and doing one
thing well, which does get in the way of spreading ourselves too thin.
At this point for the scale that we are at it's a healthy philosophy.
Who knows, in the future as we get bigger, or if someone were to throw hundreds
of millions of dollars at us, it would totally make sense to let Bob go crazy
and build whatever he wants to build and to setup an army of devs who can
continuously support those services and maintain them.
Never say never.
Plans to translate landing page
Plans yes. Bob has been after me for a while now.
The problem with the landing page is that it's always in a state of flux. There
are a lot of moving parts. It's going to take more time for things to settle
down.
Docs yes, things are a little more stable there. Although I don't know if the
framework we're using there supports translations out of the box. We'll have to
see.
What's your exit plan?
There is no exit plan.
What are normal exit plans for companies? One is getting acquired which in our
perspective is not a very sexy outcome. And the other one is going public, IPO
as a company because that tries to guarantee that the company outlives the
people who started it. The problem with going public is that you're then at the
mercy of the market. You might be doing everything right, but the market could
be unfavorable. So there are risks with going public as well, but that's one
viable route.
The other one is where you stay private. There are a bunch of companies that
have taken that route now. Basecamp is one of those guys.
Or you stay private and have a trust above it.
Lot of approaches.
One of my jobs in the next decade is to figure out what path makes the most
sense for Ente.
The overarching idea is just to make sure there is posterity. I want my daughter
to get all the photos I've clicked of her through Ente and I've to succeed at
that.
So when I'm not around Ente should be around. That's the core criteria.
How many languages do you speak?
Odd question! I speak Malayalam. That's my mother tongue. The word "ente" comes
from Malayalam, it means "mine".
I speak English, I speak Hindi. I can understand a bit of Tamil. I love Tamil. I
feel Tamil and French are the most beautiful languages out there. They sound the
best.
I know a few words in German, rather Swiss German to be more precise. I find
that language very interesting. It's the most logical language I've run into in
terms of how you concatinate words to make bigger things out of smaller things.
Compared to English, where there is no logic.
3 languages I guess.
What was your experience working at Google? Is Google a "spyware"?
I look at the team that I worked with at Google very fondly. People are really
nice, very kind folks.
In general I'm not very fond of Google, for a bunch of reasons. It's not just
about privacy. I think my bigger gripe with Google is about how they pick out
very smart engineers and feed them really good food and get them super
comfortable to a point where in they don't leave, and they don't do anything
impactful.
There's a whole meme right, "resting and vesting".
I find that very uncomfortable. There's a lot of impact humanity is missing out
on because of the strategy Google has taken and what Meta has continued to take.
Where you just extract out the best and put them in a room and don't let them do
anything, just so they don't go out and do something else.
About the "spyware" rhetoric, I think it's a bit unfair. At their core they are
an ad company. They are very open about the fact that they are an ad company.
Which means they have to harvest data. The biggest moat they have against the
likes of OpenAI is photos. Google will always have the best computer vision
models.
Then it's about if we want to encourage "spyware" or use alternatives like Ente.
This is turning into a sales pitch, but use Ente!
So I think they're doing what makes sense for them as a company and what's there
in their DNA. They are no longer saying they aren't evil.
Have you always cared about online privacy?
No, I've not always cared about privacy. In the past I've worked on a bunch of
consumer apps, where generally privacy is not something you prioritize.
Manav had come over on vacation at some point in Zurich, and we had a long
conversation about the state of consumer data, and how it's processed. That's
what got me thinking about myself and my own data. The data types that I have,
and what's really close to my heart and what isn't. If I'm okay with a company
harvesting some of it, all of it. "Threat modelling" as people call it now. So
Google Photos was one thing that was really close to my heart.
I'm not an absolutist, different people have different threat models, and I
respect that. Everybody should respect that.
I felt that as an engineer it's my responsibility to build an alternative if I
can build an alternative. For my wife to use, for my parents to use.
When will national holidays be added for more countries?
I don't know, we've not been able to prioritize this. Right now there's a focus
on shipping face recognition, semantic search, getting it out of the box.
From a product perspective we aren't interfering, we want the engineering team
to run free and close these tasks. It will provide a lot of value to customers,
by bridging these gaps.
After that we can stretch our legs and focus on iterative improvements. That's
how we'd like to play this.
Plans for custom ordering in Cast, and challenges with Cast API
Custom ordering, yes. We'd love for the device to be a remote controller, so you
can cast specific images instead of the whole album. We don't have an ETA yet.
In terms of challenges, James has written a really nice article in our blog. You
guys should go check it out, it will do a lot more justice to the question.
Are there plans for nested albums?
I guess we've to make plans. It's something that I'm not very fond of because I
feel organization can be done better with tags. But those are my personal use
cases.
In general, community has been asking for this quite a bit, so we will give
nested albums. There's no way around it.
What do you think of Cloaked?
No opinion, I saw their website. The website is really cool. They've a good
designer, that's all I can say.
Are you religious, if so what religion?
No, I don't think I'm religious. Although I was brought up in a very
conservative, religious Hindu family. That's why my name is Vishnu.
I'm not sure if you guys know of mythology. Hindu mythology is very similar to
the Greek mythology. It's like the DC universe and Marvel universe. We've got
our own characters and people who symbolize certain things.
My parents are very upset about the fact that I'm not as religious.
But there are certain things that have just become a habit because of the way I
was brought up. Some of those habits have stuck around. I've named my daughter
after the Hindu goddess Lakshmi, who stands for prosperity. Lot of those habits
have stuck around not because I'm religious or because I believe in a higher
power, but because there's a level of comfort and familiarity because those are
things you've done as a kid.
Nuanced answer, but yeah.
When is v1 of Photos coming out?
As soon as we let Laurens get back to work.
How should I transfer 10TB of photos from Dropbox to Ente as a professional photographer?
It hurts me to say this, but if you're a professional photographer you're better
off not using Ente right now because there are a lot of use cases that we don't
support.
I think we'll support them next year this time. The honest answer is to give us
sometime and give us some time. Check back in a year, we should be there.
How old are you?
I'm 33.
Any plans to introduce more options for finding duplicate files
Yes, Bob has been experimenting with a bunch of things. He's been playing around
with CLIP, he has checked out perceptual hashing. It has yielded interesting
results. But we don't have anything in production yet.
Plans yes, we will implement a better way to detect similar images not just
duplicates. If you've clicked 5 photos in one shot hoping that there's 1 in
there that looks better than the rest.
So we will help you reduce noise for these usecases.
Does Ente offer internships or remote contracts?
Flattered that someone is asking us this.
Right now we are not hiring, unfortunately. We will setup a job board though,
and we'll share it with the community so that you guys are updated as and when
we're hiring.
As for now, the best way to help us would be to spread. Just tell people about
Ente.
Share the landing page, just share your own photos. That's something we're
working on, get sharing to a better state so more people want to use it. That
way people will see Ente and that will really help us grow.
Are you considering implementing a passwordless passkey setup?
No, not right now.
I'm very new to this system of passkeys and protocols. I don't know of a way to
reproducibly derive a key from which you can execute the envelope of encryption
that we do. Perhaps there is a way. James or Bob might be better people to ask
about this.
My bigger concern about passkeys right now is lack of portability.
If you setup this whole passwordless login system, lets say from Apple, for a
specific service, and say you leave the Apple ecosystem tomorrow, there is no
way to move your passkeys from Apple to elsewhere. There is no defined format
for this.
I'd say be very careful when you go all in on passkeys before they figure out
how stuff can be moved around.
What is your hobby?
Ente is the all time consuming hobby.
Apart from that I like listening to music quite a bit. I grew up learning
Carnatic music and learning to play the violin. Although I don't really play the
violin anymore. I do spend a lot of time listening to music with my daughter.
Because I want her to grow up to be a musician. Live the dream that I couldn't.
Hopefully she grows up to be a musician.
I do spend some time lurking on Reddit and HackerNews, although it has reduced
quite a bit since I've become a dad.
I love food. I think Laurens will know this by now.
Thanks to Laurens and Bob, I've joined the gang and we go to the gym now.
We've a lot of musically inclined people at Ente now. Ashil is a great musician.
Vishal also very talented. Manav also dabbles with all sorts of musical
experiments. So lot of musical talent at Ente.
When will bulk tagging be supported?
We've to work on tagging as a feature in itself. Lot of folks are right now
retrofitting tags into descriptions and we can do a lot better.
We're looking at tagging and nested folders as things we'd like to ship
together. Don't have an ETA yet. But we'll give tags, because manual tagging is
necessary to have.
When is Locker going to be available?
No clue, to be honest. Or like the meme, SOON.
We've taken a step back, because we want to do one thing, well.
We'll definitely give Locker, but not before we hit v1 of faces.
When will OCR be added?
Would like to work on that. Faces and CLIP have to be perfected first. There is
some other stuff around rediscovery. Features on top of CLIP and Faces are more
bang for the buck for our users. Those have to come first. Then OCR. No
timelines.
Bulk actions on albums?
Same answer, after v1.
Wrapping up
When you mentioned rediscovery, there was this question about what happens after
face recognition. There are a bunch of things, video streaming.
Then sharing is a big thing. I feel that flow is broken, we go back to Signal or
Whatsapp groups to share photos, and those aren't the best places to share
photos because they don't encourage a conversation around photos. Where as with
Ente we already have your photos, now how do we enable sharing around that? That
has its own challenges. Because there's a context switch involved. You already
have your conversation in Signal, now why would you switch. Or how do we bring
your conversation into Ente. It's an interesting problem to work on.
Even with discovery. Most of us click photos to go back and look at it. Because
those are great moments in your life. So you go back and feel joy or nostalgic
about it or in general creates a sense of gratitude. There is a lot of scope for
us to recreate those feelings, without you having to search for it. By stitching
together information - we know who you hung out with, what you were doing with
them with semantic search, and where you were and at what point. Drawing
patterns from these points and creating an engine out of this. Intelligently
surfacing all this. There's a lot of gratitude we can create for people, and all
of this happening on the client side.
I feel there's a lot of romantic value in building this. Lot of exciting work
left for us to do.
We should get going. This was supposed to be a 30m call that has gone to almost
an hour.
It's Laurens' birthday tonight, in a couple of hours. It's his birthday, we got
a cake there, and we've to get the party started.
I hope we'll get to do this more often. Let us know in case we can help in any
way in general. We are around.
That's it, now we'll get going. Thanks a lot guys. See you around.
This release marks one of our final pitstops as we inch closer to the coveted
v1.0.
While we are fiddling with minor versions, the improvements we've shipped are
major, and this post shares the highlights.
Video editor
We've introduced a video editor to our mobile app that will help you trim, crop
and rotate your videos. The editor works completely offline, and is built to
help you accomplish your routine editing tasks.
Security keys
You can now secure your Ente accounts with passkeys and hardware keys. Head over
to Settings > Security to get started. Please be mindful that passkeys are yet
to gain widespread adoption, so save your recovery key if you haven't already!
You can read more about passkeys and how to use them within Ente
here.
Link previews
This release also brings a friendly way to share photos.
Since Ente's album links are end-to-end encrypted, other apps could not generate
previews for these shared links. So we've added beautiful previews, that are
created on the client, to give a better vibe while you are sharing with your
friends.
Select the photos you wish to share and click on "Send link" to see the magic!
Widgets
Ente now supports homescreen widgets on Android.
This means, you can glance at your favorite photos from your home screen. Use
the option within your launcher app to add a widget, and choose Ente from the
options that pop up.
Cast to screens
You can now cast albums from Ente on to any big screen. If your device supports
Chromecast, Ente will auto-pair. You can pair other screens by entering a
6-digit pin.
This feature works while retaining end-to-end encryption. You can find more
details about how we have implemented this here.
Discovery
We've overhauled our memories tab and search screen to improve the experience of
rediscovering old photos.
We want Ente to be more than just backups. We want it to be the place where you
run into memories that you are grateful for, and these visual improvements take
us closer to where we wish to be.
Places
We've added support for finding photos that were clicked in popular cities.
Search works fully offline guaranteeing complete privacy over your data and
search queries.
For places that aren't "popular", but are close to your heart (like your Home),
please check out Location Tags!
Ente will also display the place where a photo was clicked within the Info
section. Credits to the wonderful folks at
OpenStreetMaps for helping us showcase the maps.
Large file explorer
The ability to "sort by size" was a commonly requested by customers who wanted
to identify large videos that might not be worth keeping around. To help this
use case, we've now added an option to easily view those files that are
consuming the maximum amount of storage.
and loads more
There were a bunch of other improvements that got shipped along the way. Here
are some of them:
Ability to organize shared photos
Material You components
Pricing updates
Dedicated section for Free up space
Archived section for Archived albums
Translations for Portuguese (Brazil), Russian, and Turkish
Face recognition (beta)
Semantic search (beta)
Major performance improvements!
Now that we've shipped all these goodies, we will shift our focus to making the
app more robust and making on-device machine learning accessible to everyone.
We plan to hit v1.0 with face recognition and semantic search running with
end-to-end encryption, so there's much to do. But we intend to carve out time to
ship smaller goodies on the way. Stay tuned!
Today, we're excited to announce the introduction of passkey support on Ente!
Passkeys offer a cutting-edge alternative to traditional two-factor
authentication (2FA) methods, such as time-based one-time passwords (TOTPs).
With passkeys, the authentication process is streamlined and more secure. Forget
about unlocking your phone, searching for your 2FA app, and entering a 6-digit
code. Now, you can authenticate effortlessly using your device's biometric
capabilities, like fingerprint or facial recognition.
Why add passkeys now?
The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), an international
community dedicated to developing open web standards, introduced the WebAuthn
Level 1 standard on March 4, 2019. Think of a standard as a universally
agreed-upon playbook. As a respected organization, the W3C wields significant
influence over the internet.
Since its introduction, hardware manufacturers, browsers, and password managers
have tirelessly worked to integrate passkeys in the most user-friendly way
possible. By 2024, passkeys have reached their pinnacle of accessibility.
Support for them is now ubiquitous across every major
platform, and an increasing number of password
managers, including 1Password, Proton
Pass, and Bitwarden, offer
syncable passkey implementations.
This widespread adoption is not without good reason. Passkeys offer numerous
user benefits. For instance, they are confined to secure connections and can
only be used on their originating website. This means if you're on a compromised
network—a scenario known as a man-in-the-middle attack—your browser will block
passkey use. And once a passkey is registered with a website, browsers prevent
its use elsewhere, eliminating phishing attacks.
Passkeys are inherently secure. The components of passkeys, created on-device,
are stored, by default, in the system's trusted platform module (TPM). This
specialized chip, found in most computers, secures cryptographic keys and other
sensitive data within a secure enclave, isolated from the rest of the system.
Even if an attacker gains physical access to your device, the TPM's security
features, including at-rest encryption and brute-force attack resistance,
safeguard your passkeys.
The above sounded fantastic to us, so we chose to adopt passkeys, allowing our
user base to leverage the substantial security and convenience benefits they
offer.
How can I use passkeys?
To get started with passkeys, you'll first need to choose a provider.
Choosing a provider
A passkey provider is the software or device that will securely store your
passkeys for every site and app that you register with. This is an important
decision because, just like choosing a password manager, it's not always easy to
migrate between each provider. For instance, if you're on an Apple device, by
default, passkeys will be saved to your iCloud Keychain. However, unlike
passwords, passkeys are currently not exportable. Due to the lack of standards
for what exporting a passkey would look like, nobody has agreed on a format that
would allow such portability.
Our recommendation is to instead use a cross-platform password manager that
supports passkeys. Our team has a lot of Bitwarden
fans, while I'm the one 1Password advocate 😄, but you
should thoroughly research the password management solution that works best for
you. Our suggestion is that, whichever one you decide on, ensure that it uses
end-to-end encryption. Password managers, like Google's, do not end-to-end
encrypt your passwords by
default,
thus allowing anyone who has access to their database to view or modify the
contents of your vault.
Adding a passkey to your account
This process will differ based on the service you're trying to add a passkey to,
but on Ente, it's quite simple.
Once you're on an Ente app, like Photos or Auth, simple open the left-hand
drawer and click on "Passkey".
Then, the app will open Ente Accounts in your default browser. Behind the
scenes, if it's your first time setting up passkeys, the app will also generate
the necessary recovery information seamlessly, allowing you to get back into
your account if you ever lose access to your registered passkeys.
On Ente Accounts, you'll be able to see all your currently registered passkeys
and add new ones.
When you click on "Add passkey", your browser or password manager may prompt you
to scan your biometrics to create and securely store the new passkey. After
that, you're all done!
Logging in with a passkey
After logging in with your email and password, Ente will redirect you to Ente
Accounts and prompt you to login with a passkey registered to your account.
How do passkeys work under the hood?
Passkeys operate as cryptographic keypairs, replacing the traditional username
and password duo with a more secure asymmetric system of public and private
keys. These keys are foundational to encryption protocols, enabling secure,
verifiable sharing of information—like how we facilitate the protected exchange
of photos among various recipients on Ente. At their core, these keypairs
utilize complex mathematical principles, such as the difficulty in factoring
large prime numbers, to allow two parties to communicate securely without
revealing sensitive information over unsecured channels. This involves the
exchange of public keys, with each party using their private keys to decrypt
messages received.
Building on the principles of asymmetric cryptography, the W3C crafted a method
for secure server authentication. Creating a passkey involves your client (such
as your browser or password manager) generating a unique keypair. It then shares
the public key with the server—us, in this context—while keeping the private key
confidential. By only sharing the public key, the server can authenticate
messages from your client without being able to generate messages itself.
When you attempt to log in again, your client crafts a message, signs it with
your private key, and sends this signed message to the server. The server uses
your public key to verify that the message indeed originated from your client
before granting access to your account. This process ensures a secure and
private authentication mechanism, leveraging the strengths of asymmetric
cryptography.
Ente has your best security interests at heart.
By integrating passkeys, we join the thousands of other websites in elevating
authentication security standards, building a more secure Internet for everyone
while upholding our commitment to protecting your data. Over a year ago, we
introduced Ente Auth, an innovative, open-source,
cross-platform, end-to-end encrypted, cloud-synced two-factor authentication
app. This was our response to the shortcomings of existing apps in the market.
In March of this year, we took transparency to the next level by open-sourcing
our entire infrastructure, including the
backend.
We eagerly look forward to the advancements and possibilities passkeys will
bring to the future of digital security.
In a world where we've grown accustomed to getting things for free, it's easy to
overlook the value of paying for software — especially when it's open source.
But what if we told you that by supporting open-source developers financially,
you're not just investing in better tools, but in a brighter future for
technology as a whole?
In a compelling video titled Open Source Software SHOULD Cost
Money available on
PeerTube, right-to-repair champion Louis Rossmann shares some hard truths about
the state of open-source software development. At Ente, we couldn't agree more
with his message.
Harsh reality of FOSS
Rossmann doesn't mince words: expecting open-source software to be free is not
only unsustainable but also detrimental to developers. When programmers face
backlash for even suggesting optional payment, it's a slap in the face that
undermines the value of their work. This attitude drives talented developers
into the arms of closed-source, commercial software, where user-hostile
practices like
invasive ads,
data harvesting, and
vendor lock-in
are the norm.
As Rossmann explains in the video:
"I want to send the message that if you create software that doesn't abuse me,
I will pay you more money than what I would have paid for the closed-source
alternative. I appreciate the fact that [open-source developers] respected me
enough to allow me the ability to use their software without restrictions."
Changing the game
Rossmann calls for a radical shift in how we perceive and support open-source
software. If we truly value projects that respect our freedom, privacy, and
agency as users, it's time to put our money where our values are. By paying for
the open-source tools we rely on, we create a sustainable future where
open-source thrives and developers are fairly compensated for their work.
Championing sustainable opensource
At Ente, we're on a mission to develop a privacy-focused, open-source photo
storage platform that rivals the best commercial offerings in terms of features
and user experience. But creating something truly game-changing takes more than
just passion—it requires fairly compensating our dedicated team for their skills
and effort.
That's why we've designed our pricing plans to be
affordable, ensuring that we can continue to invest in necessary infrastructure,
development, and support. Every subscription directly powers our ability to
deliver a top-notch product that puts your privacy first, without compromising
on quality or features.
Join the movement
Rossmann's message, shared on the privacy-focused PeerTube platform, is a
powerful call to action for anyone who cares about the future of software. By
choosing platforms like PeerTube and supporting open-source alternatives like
Ente, you become part of a movement that prioritizes user privacy, security, and
fairness in software development.
Supporting open-source is not just about enjoying free software—it's about
actively participating in the sustainability of technologies that uphold respect
and fairness for both users and developers. Together, we have the power to shape
a future where technology serves us, not the other way around.
Ready to join the open-source revolution? Subscribe to Ente now and become part
of a community that values privacy, security, and fairness in
software.
Trust me, we are Batmen and we are saving your assets from prying eyes.
Just like Batman protects Gotham City, safeguarding your personal data from
various threats is crucial. In this blog post, we'll explore the concept of
threat modeling and how it can help you fortify your personal security posture.
By understanding and applying these principles, you'll be better equipped to
defend your valuable assets from potential adversaries.
Threat Modeling
With the attacks on privacy everywhere in the world, from mass surveillance to
anti-privacy laws, threats to our personal security and privacy are more
prevalent than ever.
Credit: Tiffany Liu, MIT
Threat modeling empowers you to take a proactive approach to your personal
security posture, rather than simply reacting to threats as they come. It's
crucial to acknowledge the trade-off between convenience and security.
Implementing stringent security measures can sometimes come at the cost of
usability and ease of access. Threat modeling helps you strike the right balance
by focusing on the most probable and impactful threats while maintaining a level
of convenience that works for you. By understanding your unique threat
landscape, you can make informed decisions about where to invest your time and
effort to secure your assets.
Credit: Norris Inc
Understanding Assets
First, identify your critical assets – the things you want to protect. These
could be:
Your devices (like Batman's Bat Cave)
Personal information
Important files
Online accounts
Make a list of these assets and prioritize them based on their importance and
sensitivity.
Identifying Threats
Next, consider the threats that could compromise your assets. These threats can
come from various sources, such as:
Cybercriminals
Hackers
Nosy journalists (as depicted in Batman's threat model)
Common threats include:
Malware
Phishing attempts
Unauthorized access
Data breaches
Big tech spying on your personal data
Assessing Risks
Now, evaluate the likelihood and potential impact of each threat. Assign a risk
level to each threat based on how likely it is to occur and how severe the
consequences would be. This will help you prioritize your security measures and
focus on the most significant risks.
Mitigating Risks
Once you've identified and assessed the risks, it's time to implement security
controls to mitigate them. This can include measures like:
Using strong passwords
Enabling two-factor authentication
Encrypting sensitive data (just like Batman's encryption)
Regularly updating your software and devices
Using privacy-enhancing tools and techniques to protect your online activities
and hide your location (like Batman's hide location)
Continuous Improvement
Threat modeling is an ongoing process. As new threats emerge and your personal
circumstances change, it's essential to regularly review and update your threat
model. Stay informed about the latest security best practices and be proactive
in adapting your defenses.
Remember, just like Batman, vigilance and continuous improvement are key to
staying one step ahead of potential threats.
Start your threat modeling journey today and create a personal security strategy
that even the Dark Knight would be proud of!
We have added support for importing data from a bunch of providers.
Don't worry about lock-ins. You can easily export your data in a single click
into a plain-text file, or an encrypted one. To decrypt the latter, you can use
our
CLI.
Steam codes
Steam comes with a non-standard protocol for it's second-factor codes, but
starting this release we've added support for their format as well.
Importing your code from Steam is a bit of a hassle, but one of our community
members has written a simple
guide that should help!
Logo
To acknowledge the level of maturity the product has reached, we splurged and
landed on some pixels that better represent Auth.
We've spent an unreasonable amount of time looking at pixels before picking this
one, so we hope you like it as much as we do!
Website
To mark this milestone, we've launched a dedicated website for Auth @
ente.io/auth.
We hope this will make it easy to share Auth with your friends and help improve
their security posture. In fact, telling your friends about Ente is the best way
to support us!
Pricing
We would like to officially announce that Ente Auth will be free forever.
In light of recent events, where Apple resurfaced photos that users had
deleted1,2,3,
we wanted to share how Ente ensures that deleted data is actually deleted.
Before we dive into the technical details, there are two angles from which we
approach data deletion. The first is that of respecting your wish to not relive
certain memories. The second is that of ensuring you have the freedom to delete
bits of information you've given us.
So how do we do this reliably?
Data deletion
There are three ways to delete your data on Ente, each cascading over the other.
Encrypted blobs that represent the actual files, and are stored in S3
compliant providers
Encrypted metadata that help you (and only you) decrypt these blobs, and are
stored in a Postgres database
The first
queue
pops items that were added over 45 days ago and deletes them from every bucket
the data has been replicated to.
The second
queue
deletes any metadata related to these files from our databases.
All of our storage layers offer strong
consistency guarantees. This means, once we request deletion, any subsequent
requests to read the same data will fail. When these bytes are overwritten on
their disks depends on their own implementation of garbage collection, but they
are eventually overwritten to make space for new data.
What is important to note here is, when we process a file for deletion, we
also remove all metadata related to that file - including the object keys (path)
to access its blobs and the necessary metadata to help our clients decrypt them.
So once a deletion request is processed, the file will become inaccessible to
Ente, and to you.
In short, the system is designed to make deleted data irrecoverable.
Deleting an album
When you delete an album, Ente's server will process that
request
and move all the files that are unique to that album into your Trash.
You can recover this data from your Trash within the next 30 days, post which,
the exact same workflow for deleting files runs to purge
each of these files from our systems.
Deleting your account
When you request to delete your account, Ente's server will process the
request
to
Cancel and delete your subscription
Revoke all your authentication tokens
Unsubscribe you from our mailing lists
Remove your email address from our database
Queue your account's data for cleanup
The clean up is performed 7 days later, to make room for data
recovery. After 7 days, your account's data will be processed
for
cleanup
in multiple stages where Ente will
Complete the
cleanup
by removing every entry related to your account from our database
Data recovery
Say you deleted your account by accident, and need help recovering your deleted
data, can we help?
Yes we can.
This is why there is a 7 day
delay
to process the cleanup. If you reach out to support
within this duration, we will help you out.
That is all.
We've adopted an approach to data deletion that is rooted in simplicity, and
it's this simplicity that makes it work. It is likely that deleted data
resurfacing on Apple / Google is because of bugs introduced by complexity rather
than malicious intent.
Also, thanks to Ente's server being open source, it is easy to share references
to our codebase where our promises are being kept. If you find room for
improvement in our implementation, please do let us
know.
Because at the end of the day, our ability to forget is a feature, and not a
bug. It makes us human, and at Ente we'd like to write software that makes us
more human.
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