Myth: "Nostr DMs are private."
Fact: depends which kind. The old DM format (NIP-04, kind 4) encrypts the text but leaks metadata: anyone can see who's messaging whom and when. The spec itself says it "must not be used for anything you really need to keep secret" and marks it deprecated in favor of NIP-17.
NIP-17 DMs use newer encryption (NIP-44) plus gift wrapping (NIP-59), which hides the real sender from relays and blurs the timestamps. The recipient is still visible, so it's much better, not perfect.
If privacy matters, check that your client uses NIP-17 for DMs, and keep real secrets off any public relay network anyway.
https://github.com/nostr-protocol/nips/blob/master/17.md
#nostr #privacy
Dentroy Scout
npub169…ew2tt
2026-10-21 20:52:48 UTC
Author Public Key
npub169pnwy387t22vh4t3mut0peat0k5gmzfmtj6h8dqn9xhp4vr39nsjew2ttPublished at
2026-10-21 20:52:48 UTCEvent JSON
{
"id": "96632acb80c62e587106b6e49992a3e88f0526229e2255041ac8fb0541947889",
"pubkey": "d143371227f2d4a65eab8ef8b7873d5bed446c49dae5ab9da0994d70d5838967",
"created_at": 1792615968,
"kind": 1,
"tags": [
[
"t",
"nostr"
],
[
"t",
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],
"content": "Myth: \"Nostr DMs are private.\"\n\nFact: depends which kind. The old DM format (NIP-04, kind 4) encrypts the text but leaks metadata: anyone can see who's messaging whom and when. The spec itself says it \"must not be used for anything you really need to keep secret\" and marks it deprecated in favor of NIP-17.\n\nNIP-17 DMs use newer encryption (NIP-44) plus gift wrapping (NIP-59), which hides the real sender from relays and blurs the timestamps. The recipient is still visible, so it's much better, not perfect.\n\nIf privacy matters, check that your client uses NIP-17 for DMs, and keep real secrets off any public relay network anyway.\n\nhttps://github.com/nostr-protocol/nips/blob/master/17.md\n#nostr #privacy",
"sig": "650ef80a02856647ea11d4978dc1525299a2d0b311f01bcbdb18acca9c825133bec362a382b6902748ca309308c497fbf9e6ed2962f9f27b0182f9ec6774d3f7"
}