Encrypted before it leaves the device.
Nothing is transmitted until the message has been encrypted with a key that only the sender and receiver know.
Taftan uses AES-256-GCM, the same cipher used by banks, government agencies and commercial password managers. Encryption converts the message into data that cannot be read without the correct password.
Before it becomes the encryption key, the password is processed through a computationally intensive key derivation step. Every guess an attacker makes requires repeating that entire process. A long, unpredictable passphrase makes exhaustive search computationally out of reach.
Two key sources are available. You can type a passphrase that both parties agree on in advance, or use any file already on your device as the key. The file is never transmitted or modified. Both devices simply need an identical copy. The key never leaves the device, and Taftan sends nothing to any server, because no server exists.
What an observer intercepts
Noise on the speaker. A grid of tiles on a screen. A photograph that looks exactly like any other photograph.
What Taftan never stores
The password. The original message. The recipient identity. The time of transmission. Nothing that connects the sender to the receiver.
What you must keep safe
The password. Lose it and the message is permanently gone. Taftan holds no master key, and there is no server to hold one.
Encryption process
- 01
You compose a message
- 02
Taftan derives an encryption key from the password
- 03
AES-256-GCM encrypts the message using the derived key
- 04
The chosen channel transmits the encrypted data
- 05
The receiving device decrypts the data using the same password
- 06
The original message appears on the receiving device
Technical and operational questions.
Direct and complete answers.
01Does Taftan require internet connectivity?
No. The acoustic and optical channels work with no network at all. The steganographic channel only needs the messaging app you use to send the photo, which is entirely optional. Two phones in a basement with no signal is exactly the scenario Taftan was built for.
02Must both devices have Taftan installed?
Yes. The receiving device needs the app to decode the audio signal, the screen frames or the hidden message in the photo. It is free to download.
03Will an observer be able to detect that a message is concealed?
When using the steganographic channel through a messaging app, the other party receives only a photograph. There is no visible sign and no metadata marker. Proving the presence of hidden data requires a specialised forensic tool. Robust mode is designed specifically to resist that kind of analysis on common social platforms.
04What happens if the password is lost?
The message cannot be recovered. Taftan does not keep a copy of the password and there is no recovery option. Write it down somewhere safe before transmitting anything critical.
05Is this application lawful to use?
Taftan is software for the private transfer of messages between two people who have agreed to communicate. It uses standard microphone, camera and display hardware and applies encryption that is legal in the vast majority of jurisdictions. The user is responsible for the content of every message sent.
06Is the source code available?
Not currently. The code is proprietary. The technical specification describing how messages are encoded and decoded is documented separately, so an independent security researcher can verify a complete transfer end to end. Open-sourcing under a permissive licence is being considered.
07Can my messages be recovered?
No. Taftan does not run any server in the transfer path. All encryption and channel operations happen on your device. Nobody has visibility into any message, and nothing can be retrieved after the fact.
08Which devices are supported?
Android 9 and later. iOS 15 and later through TestFlight. Desktop builds for macOS, Windows and Linux are in development.
Two devices. One shared password. No intermediary.
Install Taftan on both devices, agree on the password through a separate channel beforehand, and run a quick test transfer using whichever channel fits your situation.