Discord has had its share of controversies, particularly this year, when it was revealed that data belonging to 600 million users was compromised after someone scraped group chats from thousands of servers. Just recently, the platform rolled out a feature that many perceived as an invasion of privacy, further complicating its reputation.
Amid these challenges, there is some positive news: Discord is now implementing end-to-end encryption for audio and video calls.
In its announcement, Discord introduced the DAVE protocol, which stands for Discord’s Audio and Video End-to-End Encryption. This new feature will be available across all audio and video calls in direct messages, group chats, voice channels, and Go Live streams.
This end-to-end encryption ensures that call data is encrypted on the user’s end before being transmitted. Only the participants in the call will have access to the per-sender keys required for decryption, meaning that not even Discord itself will have visibility into the content of these calls. The company has assured users that this encryption process will not negatively impact call quality.
For those curious about the technical details, Discord offers a thorough explanation in its announcement post. Additionally, you can explore the DAVE protocol further through its whitepaper and the open-source library associated with it.
It’s essential to mention that while this encryption enhances the privacy of audio and video calls, text messages will remain unencrypted to allow for effective content moderation.
The DAVE update is currently rolling out on Discord’s desktop and mobile applications, with plans for broader availability on other clients in 2025. This move brings Discord closer to competing communication platforms like WhatsApp and Signal, which have long utilized end-to-end encryption for user privacy.