Encrypted Chat Room Guide: Anonymous Conversations Encrypted in Your Browser

When most messengers claim to offer "private conversations," the messages are usually still stored on their servers. If server data is exposed through a court order or a hack, your conversations can be revealed.

LOCK.PUB's encrypted chat rooms are different. Every message is encrypted in your browser before it is uploaded, so what lands on the server is encrypted message data and never readable text, and only the room password can turn it back into a conversation.

How Does It Work?

Encryption Mechanism

sequenceDiagram
    participant A as Participant A (Browser)
    participant S as Server
    participant B as Participant B (Browser)
    A->>A: AES encryption (password)
    A->>S: Send encrypted message
    Note over S: Messages stored as ciphertext<br/>Never as readable text
    S->>B: Deliver encrypted message
    B->>B: AES decryption (same password)

Encryption and decryption both happen in the browser: the ciphertext is produced on your device and opened on theirs, so what we store is encrypted message data rather than readable text. The password travels to LOCK.PUB over HTTPS, where it is checked against a stored salted scrypt verifier and used to lock the room's encryption key -- the key your browser unwraps to read and write messages. The password itself is never saved, so we cannot reset it, recover it, or hand it to anyone.

How to Use

1. Create a chat room -- Set a password and create the room
2. Share the link -- Send the chat room link to participants
3. Share the password -- Send the password through a separate channel
4. Start chatting -- Participants enter the password and can start chatting immediately

Chat Room Features

Anonymous Participation

Anyone can join without signing up. Participants choose their own nickname and are assigned a random color, and both are encrypted alongside the message. No name, email address or phone number is ever asked for, and no account or profile is ever attached to anything a participant says.

Encrypted Before It Leaves Your Device

All messages are protected with AES encryption applied in the browser. Not only the message content, but also nicknames and color information are encrypted together.

flowchart LR
    subgraph Encrypted
        A[Message text]
        B[Participant nickname]
        C[Participant color]
    end
    subgraph Not encrypted
        D[Timestamp]
    end

Real-Time Chat

Messages are delivered instantly using Firestore's real-time synchronization. New messages appear automatically without needing to refresh.

Message History

When you enter a chat room, the most recent 50 messages are displayed. Scroll up to load older messages.

When to Use It

Sensitive Business Discussions

Use it for project discussions with confidentiality concerns, HR-related conversations, contract negotiations, and more. When the conversation is over, simply let the chat room expire.

Anonymous Feedback Collection

Perfect for getting honest feedback from team members. Since participation is anonymous, people can share their true opinions freely.

Emergency Information Exchange

Quickly share access credentials or recovery codes during emergencies like server outages.

Secret Event Planning

Use it for planning surprise parties, gifts, or any conversation that the intended person shouldn't see.

Security Tips

Password Strength

The security of the chat room depends on the password strength, because the password is what unlocks the room's AES encryption key.

• 1234 -- Too weak
• password -- Too guessable
• TeamMeeting-Feb! -- A combination only participants would know
• Project-X-2026#Feb -- Sufficiently complex

Expiration Time (Pro)

With the Pro plan, you can set an expiration time for chat rooms. Leaving a chat room active after the conversation ends is a security risk, so set an appropriate expiration time:

Use Case	Recommended Expiration
Emergency info exchange	1 hour
One-time meeting discussion	24 hours
Project-duration conversation	7 days

Comparison with Regular Messengers

	KakaoTalk	Telegram Secret Chat	LOCK.PUB Chat Room
Plaintext stored on server	Yes	No	No
Signup required	Yes	Yes	No
Phone number or email required	Yes	Yes	No
Auto-expiration	No	Available	Yes (Pro)
Anonymous participation	No	No	Yes
Works in browser only	No	Partial	Yes

Free vs Pro

	Free	Pro
Chat room creation	5/month with a free account, 3 without (all types combined)	Unlimited
Messages	50 per room	Unlimited
Expiration time	No	Yes
Message length	200 characters	200 characters

Get Started

Encrypted chat rooms are free to create. Use them right in your web browser -- no app installation needed.

Create an Encrypted Chat Room ->