Option to disable e2e-encryption

[djschilling]

I would like to have an option to disable all e2e-encryption gui features.

Background

We develop a custom matrix client that ships in our app. Currently it does not support e2e-encryption. We have planned to support it but its a big task and so it will take some time to get it done.
We also want our customers to be able to use element-web in their browser to have a good desktop experience.
After logging in to element-web the first thing it shows is the setup process for e2e-encryption which is not needed for our customers at the moment.
Additional they can create new rooms which are e2e encrypted which then cannot be displayed in our app.

Possible solutions

Server side

Add an option to the file .well-known/matrix/client which tells clients to not show e2e-encryption.
Every client could then react to this flag.

Client side

Add a config option to element-web to disable e2e-encryption.

Related issues

• Ability to disable End-To-End Encryption via Config matrix-org/synapse#4401

Pull Request

matrix-org/matrix-react-sdk#5652

[theCalcaholic]

Tbh, I don't feel comfortable with the idea that my homeserver can disable e2e encryption for my client...

I'd be more okay with something like that if it is the client instance that needs to be adjusted (via config) - so either in the config file for the desktop app or during deployment when hosting an element web instance

[djschilling]

@theCalcaholic I am also fine with the client side solution.

I created this pr for the client side solution: matrix-org/matrix-react-sdk#5652

[jryans]

After logging in to element-web the first thing it shows is the setup process for e2e-encryption which is not needed for our customers at the moment.

This should only be the case once you join your first encrypted room. Are you seeing it before that point?

[djschilling]

@jryans i just tested it on https://app.element.io/ and i also see it there. i don't have an encrypted room:

And that is not the only e2e encryption thing showing up.
As mentioned in the issue above people can also create encrypted rooms even without an encrypted store ready to use:

[jryans]

i don't have an encrypted room:

Ah right, I had been think of the toasts inside the app. At the moment, we show verification post-login all the time to ensure sessions are ready for a future encrypted room, but agreed that's a bit confusing for certain use cases. I filed element-hq/element-web#17015 to capture this part.

people can also create encrypted rooms even without an encrypted store ready to use

Yes, anyone can create encrypted rooms. What's an "encrypted store"? Whatever it is, I don't think it's needed to make an encrypted room...

In general, I think it would be better to try focusing on each of the issues you're seeing here, and working towards solutions for them, rather than trying to just turn off encryption features.

[djschilling]

Yes, anyone can create encrypted rooms. What's an "encrypted store"? Whatever it is, I don't think it's needed to make an encrypted room...

The cryptoStore seems to be necessary to use e2e-encryption features in element. Here it is initialized: https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-react-sdk/blob/develop/src/utils/createMatrixClient.js#L63

In my pull request i disabled the crypto store with this line: Matrix.setCryptoStoreFactory(() => null);.

This disables most of the places in element where e2e-encryption things show up. The remaining things i hided in my pull request: https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-react-sdk/pull/5652/files#diff-efcfb7be43beec91671ff68819c04b72eacaa80a7a2f83474ecca8a3c0fd8974R218 Example in file src/components/views/dialogs/CreateRoomDialog.js

In general, I think it would be better to try focusing on each of the issues you're seeing here, and working towards solutions for them, rather than trying to just turn off encryption features.

The issue i am having is that e2e encryption things are showing up in the ui. The client that we are using does not support e2e-encryption yet as described in the issue description. So this is the issue and i don't know on which other things i should focus on. If you think there is a better solution here i would be glad to try it out.

[Mogaba]

So is there a way to stop the encryption stuff from showing up in the browser version?

[t3chguy]

@Mogaba https://github.com/vector-im/element-web/blob/develop/docs/e2ee.md#disabling-encryption-by-default https://github.com/vector-im/element-web/blob/develop/docs/config.md#ui-features

[Mogaba]

@Mogaba https://github.com/vector-im/element-web/blob/develop/docs/e2ee.md#disabling-encryption-by-default https://github.com/vector-im/element-web/blob/develop/docs/config.md#ui-features

Thanks, I tried it, but it still shows "Unable to verify this device" on login. Also, I'm not sure if this is related, but I'm unable to create a key or a passphrase, the following error shows up: "Unable to set up secret storage".

[t3chguy]

Please send logs, without those there's not much insight

[lunera-dev]

Yes, anyone can create encrypted rooms. What's an "encrypted store"? Whatever it is, I don't think it's needed to make an encrypted room...

The cryptoStore seems to be necessary to use e2e-encryption features in element. Here it is initialized: https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-react-sdk/blob/develop/src/utils/createMatrixClient.js#L63

In my pull request i disabled the crypto store with this line: Matrix.setCryptoStoreFactory(() => null);.

This disables most of the places in element where e2e-encryption things show up. The remaining things i hided in my pull request: https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-react-sdk/pull/5652/files#diff-efcfb7be43beec91671ff68819c04b72eacaa80a7a2f83474ecca8a3c0fd8974R218 Example in file src/components/views/dialogs/CreateRoomDialog.js

In general, I think it would be better to try focusing on each of the issues you're seeing here, and working towards solutions for them, rather than trying to just turn off encryption features.

The issue i am having is that e2e encryption things are showing up in the ui. The client that we are using does not support e2e-encryption yet as described in the issue description. So this is the issue and i don't know on which other things i should focus on. If you think there is a better solution here i would be glad to try it out.

Did you make any progress on removing/disabling E2EE?