Planet CCC - Blogs and more around CCC, CCC-Hamburg and Attraktor

October 22, 2026

Netzpolitik.org

Geheimdienstreform: Opposition kritisiert ungeregelte Überwachung mit Werbedaten

Die Glaskuppel des Bundestages in der AbenddämmerungDer Bundestag berät momentan einen Ausbau der Geheimdienste – Gemeinfrei-ähnlich freigegeben durch unsplash.com: Christian Lue
BND und Bundesverfassungsschutz sollen umfangreiche neue Gesetze bekommen, aber ein Bereich fehlt: Dürfen die Geheimdienste mit illegalen Daten aus der Werbeindustrie überwachen? Opposition und Fachleute kritisieren diese Regelungslücke vehement, aber die Regierung schaltet auf stur.

by Ingo Dachwitz at October 22, 2026 10:21 AM

digitalcourage

Baden-Württemberg: Kettensäge gegen Datenschutz

Baden-Württemberg: Kettensäge gegen Datenschutz
Fast 40 % Stellenabbau
A Melanie Lübbert

Wer in Baden-Württemberg wissen will, ob ein Unternehmen oder eine Behörde rechtmäßig mit personenbezogenen Daten umgeht, kann sich an den Landesbeauftragten für den Datenschutz und die Informationsfreiheit, Tobias Keber, wenden. Doch ausgerechnet seine Behörde soll massiv Personal verlieren.

Der Entwurf des Staatshaushaltsgesetzes 2027 sieht vor, bis zum Ende der Legislaturperiode (2029) 40 Prozent der Stellen abzubauen. Von derzeit 67,5 Stellen sollen 27 wegfallen. Übrig blieben gerade einmal 42 Planstellen. Für 2027 sind zunächst 5,5 Stellen zur Streichung vorgesehen; weitere Kürzungen sollen 2028 und 2029 folgen.

Eine inhaltliche Begründung für diesen drastischen Einschnitt liefert die grün-schwarze Landesregierung unter Ministerpräsident Cem Özdemir nicht. Auffällig ist zudem: Während für die übrige zentrale Verwaltung fünf Prozent Stellenabbau vorgesehen sind, soll die Datenschutzaufsicht 40 Prozent einsparen – eine achtmal so hohe Kürzungsquote.

Mehr Arbeit, weniger Personal

Der geplante Kahlschlag steht in krassem Widerspruch zur Entwicklung der vergangenen Jahre. Seit die Datenschutz-Grundverordnung (DSGVO) 2018 wirksam wurde, hat sich die Arbeitsbelastung der Datenschutzaufsicht erheblich erhöht. Die Zahl der Beschwerden und gemeldeten Datenpannen ist massiv gestiegen. Zugleich werden Datenverarbeitungen immer komplexer und stellen die Behörde vor neue Herausforderungen.

Quelle: Tätigkeitsberichte des Landesbeauftragten für den Datenschutz und die Informationsfreiheit Baden-Württemberg. Auswertung: Redaktion Digitalcourage. [Grafik: padeluun, mit Hilfe von KI erstellt]

Die Zahlen verdeutlichen, wie stark sich die Aufgaben der Behörde verändert haben:

  • Beschwerden: Seit Einführung der DSGVO wenden sich deutlich mehr Menschen an die Datenschutzaufsicht. Neue Technologien und der zunehmende Einsatz Künstlicher Intelligenz schaffen zusätzliche Konfliktfelder. Im Jahr 2025 erreichte die Zahl der Beschwerden mit 7.673 einen neuen Höchststand – ein Anstieg um rund 90 Prozent gegenüber dem Vorjahr.
  • Datenpannen: Mit der DSGVO wurden die Meldepflichten bei Verletzungen des Schutzes personenbezogener Daten erheblich ausgeweitet. Für die Aufsichtsbehörde entstand dadurch ein umfangreiches zusätzliches Aufgabenfeld. Die Zahl der Meldungen stieg deutlich an und erreichte 2025 mit 4.059 einen neuen Höchstwert.
  • Beratungen: Die Einführung der DSGVO löste zunächst einen enormen Beratungsbedarf aus. Durch standardisierte Leitfäden, Orientierungshilfen und Online-Angebote der Datenschutzkonferenz sowie eigene Praxishilfen und Veranstaltungen konnte die Behörde viele wiederkehrende Fragen beantworten. Auch das Bildungszentrum des Landesbeauftragten übernimmt einen wichtigen Teil der Beratung. Inzwischen entstehen neue Aufgaben, insbesondere durch Künstliche Intelligenz und europäische Regelungen wie den Europäischen Gesundheitsdatenraum. Unternehmen, Behörden und Bürger.innen sind weiterhin auf die fachliche Unterstützung der Datenschutzaufsicht angewiesen.
  • Kontrollen: Die anlassunabhängigen Vor-Ort-Prüfungen wurden nach 2018 aufgrund begrenzter personeller Kapazitäten deutlich reduziert. Während der Corona-Pandemie waren zusätzliche Einschränkungen notwendig. Nach 2022 konnten die Kontrollen mit einer besseren Personalausstattung wieder intensiviert werden. Die geplanten Kürzungen drohen diese Entwicklung umzukehren.
  • Personalstellen: Seit Einführung der DSGVO verdoppelte der Landtag die Zahl der Personalstellen bis 2025 schrittweise auf den Höchststand von 67,5 Stellen. Zwischenzeitlich waren es mit befristet zugewiesenen Personalstellen 70,5 Stellen. Bis 2029 ist nun eine Reduzierung um rund 40 Prozent vorgesehen. Am Ende sollen nur noch 42 Planstellen verbleiben, während andere Landesbehörden fünf Prozent einsparen sollen.

  • Hinweis: In der linken primären Y-Achse finden sich aufsummiert die Ereignisse „Beschwerden, Datenpannen, Beratungen und Kontrollen“; in der rechten sekundären Y-Achse finden sich die Werte für Kontrollen und LfDI-Personalstellen.
  • Quelle: Tätigkeitsberichte des Landesbeauftragten für den Datenschutz und die Informationsfreiheit Baden-Württemberg. Auswertung: Redaktion Digitalcourage. [Grafik: padeluun, mit Hilfe von KI erstellt]

Dabei benötigt die Behörde nicht weniger, sondern mehr Personal. Landesdatenschutzbeauftragter Tobias Keber hat dem Landtag in seiner Stellungnahme zum Haushaltsentwurf dargelegt, dass für eine ordnungsgemäße Aufgabenerfüllung sieben zusätzliche Stellen erforderlich wären. Angesichts von 90 Prozent mehr Beschwerden gegenüber 2024 warnt er davor, mit den geplanten Kürzungen „die Kettensäge am Beschwerderecht der DS-GVO anzusetzen“.

Der Haushaltsentwurf liegt nun beim Landtag.

Die DSGVO verpflichtet die Aufsichtsbehörden, Beschwerden angemessen zu untersuchen und Betroffene innerhalb einer angemessenen Frist über den Fortgang und das Ergebnis zu informieren. Doch wie soll eine Behörde dieser Verpflichtung nachkommen, wenn die Zahl der Beschwerden steigt und gleichzeitig 40 Prozent ihrer Stellen wegfallen sollen?

Die DSGVO und die europäische Datenschutzrichtlinie für den Bereich Polizei und Justiz verpflichten die Mitgliedstaaten ausdrücklich, ihre Aufsichtsbehörden mit ausreichenden personellen, technischen und finanziellen Mitteln auszustatten. Ob der geplante Stellenabbau mit diesen Vorgaben vereinbar ist, ist daher auch eine europarechtliche Frage.

Der Bund soll es richten – tut es aber nicht

Eine Entlastung der Landesdatenschutzaufsicht wäre denkbar, wenn bestimmte Aufgaben künftig vom Bund übernommen würden. Tatsächlich sieht der Koalitionsvertrag der schwarz-roten Bundesregierung eine Neuordnung vor: Zuständigkeiten und Kompetenzen der Datenschutzaufsicht sollen stärker bei der Bundesdatenschutzbeauftragten gebündelt werden.

Dahinter steht unter anderem die Sorge, dass unterschiedliche Auslegungen des Datenschutzrechts durch die Landesbehörden zu Wettbewerbsnachteilen für Unternehmen führen könnten.

Allerdings gibt es bereits ein Gremium, das genau solche Unterschiede verringern soll: die Datenschutzkonferenz (DSK). In ihr stimmen sich die Datenschutzaufsichtsbehörden des Bundes und der Länder ab, erarbeiten gemeinsame Positionen und veröffentlichen Orientierungshilfen. Ihr Ziel ist eine möglichst einheitliche Anwendung des Datenschutzrechts in Deutschland.

Bislang ist von der angekündigten Neuordnung jedoch nichts Konkretes zu sehen. Die Bundesregierung hat noch keinen Gesetzentwurf vorgelegt, der eine Verlagerung von Zuständigkeiten auf den Bund regelt. Wann und in welchem Umfang die Landesbehörden tatsächlich entlastet würden, ist völlig offen.

Baden-Württemberg will die Stellen trotzdem schon jetzt streichen. Die Aufgaben bleiben – das Personal soll gehen.

Recht auf informationelle Selbstbestimmung wird abgewürgt

Sollte die grün-schwarze Landesregierung ihre Kürzungspläne durchsetzen, hätte das gravierende Folgen für den Datenschutz in Baden-Württemberg. Weniger Personal bedeutet weniger Kapazitäten für Kontrollen, Beratungen und die Bearbeitung von Beschwerden. Datenschutzverstöße könnten länger unentdeckt bleiben oder erst mit erheblicher Verzögerung verfolgt werden.

Die Leidtragenden wären vor allem die Menschen, deren Beschwerden unbearbeitet liegen bleiben. Wer seine Rechte durchsetzen will, müsste dann womöglich häufiger selbst vor Gericht ziehen. Statt den Datenschutz wirksam zu gewährleisten, würde das Land die Verantwortung zunehmend auf die Betroffenen abwälzen.

Die Streichpläne sind unverantwortlich. Datenschutz und Persönlichkeitsrechte sind ein hohes Gut; angesichts der technischen Entwicklungen und der Wildwest-Mentalität einiger Firmen ("einfach machen!") sind unsere Rechte zunehmend in Gefahr. Eine Aufsichtsbehörde muss arbeitsfähig sein, um gegen Datenschutzverstöße vorzugehen. Ist sie das nicht, wird das Recht auf informationelle Selbstbestimmung der Bürgerinnen und Bürger abgewürgt. Und das ist ganz sicher nicht das, was Baden-Württemberg zukunftsfähig macht. Die Landesregierung muss ihre Streichpläne zurückziehen.

Anmerkungen und weiterführende Links

Aufmacherbild
Bild
Eine Kettensäge. AUf dem Sägeblatt steht Baden-Württemberg. Unten drunter vertreut die Buschstaben D-A-T-E-N-S-C-H-U-T-Z.

by A Melanie Lübbert at October 22, 2026 09:00 AM

Netzpolitik.org

Interview: „Lasst Euch nicht mit dem ersten Datensatz abspeisen!“

Zwei Menschen stehen auf einer großen Vortragsbühne, auf der Slide hinter ihnen steht "Time to start our live demo"Gregor Ziegltrum (links) und Dennis Schulz (rechts) präsentieren ihre Ergebnisse.
Welche Daten haben Unternehmen über uns gespeichert? Dank Datenschutzgrundverordnung müssen Unternehmen die eigenen Daten auf Anfrage herausgeben. Zwei Softwareentwickler haben das genutzt, um mit hunderten Anfragen ihr digitales Leben zu rekonstruieren.

by Leonhard Pitz at October 22, 2026 06:55 AM

October 21, 2026

Metalab

Splatfest at MetaInvasion (2026-10-31 16:00:00)

Splatfest at MetaInvasion (2026-10-31 16:00:00)

October 21, 2026 10:00 PM

CCC Media

A Year (and a half) of Continuwuity (matrix-conf-2026)

In April 2025, a new homeserver burst onto the scene. Soon enough, hundreds of servers were running this mysterious new software - and the momentum didn't drop. Today, more than one and a half thousand servers on the public federation run [Continuwuity](https://continuwuity.org/). That leads to some questions. Where did it come from? What happened? Where is it going? Well, We've got anwers for all of that. Right here. Exclusively. This is a breakdown from the team behind the ~~mystery~~ well-regarded open source project, going over all of that and more. You know you're interested. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://cfp.2026.matrix.org/matrix-conference-2026/talk/9KHRGR/

Video:matrix-conf-2026-99063-eng-A_Year_and_a_half_of_Continuwuity_sd.mp4

October 21, 2026 10:00 PM

How Encryption works in Matrix (matrix-conf-2026)

Intended for people who don't know much about encryption or Matrix, this session will give an overview of how your messages are kept safe, using end-to-end encryption. We'll very briefly review what we are trying to do: be sure who we're talking to, and be sure no-one else can read our messages. Then we'll discuss how Matrix does this: devices talk to each other with something called Olm, and messages in rooms use Megolm. By the end of this session you should be confident talking about how Matrix keeps your data safe, and you should know enough that you are able to dig deeper when you need to. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://cfp.2026.matrix.org/matrix-conference-2026/talk/DDYYQW/

Video:matrix-conf-2026-98869-eng-How_Encryption_works_in_Matrix_sd.mp4

October 21, 2026 10:00 PM

Preserving Integration, Rebuilding the Core: Matrix for Healthcare Communication (matrix-conf-2026)

The hardest part of modernizing healthcare communication is not building a new platform. It is preserving decades of existing integrations while enabling an entirely new communication model. Germany's healthcare sector currently relies on two communication systems with very different characteristics. KIM is the widely adopted communication backbone of the healthcare system. It enables critical workflows such as electronic certificates of incapacity for work and is deeply integrated into healthcare information systems. However, its architecture is based on traditional email technologies and on infrastructure that will have to evolve significantly in the coming years. The TI-Messenger, based on Matrix, provides a modern communication architecture that already aligns with many design principles of Germany's future health infrastructure. It enables secure communication between healthcare professionals and also includes insured persons as participants in the communication ecosystem. Nevertheless, adoption has not yet reached the level required to achieve strong network effects. Instead of operating two independent communication ecosystems, we are pursuing a convergence strategy: a unified communication platform that preserves existing integrations and workflows while modernizing the backend infrastructure and enabling interoperability across user groups. This talk presents the architectural challenges, migration strategy and interoperability concepts for transforming a nationwide, mission critical healthcare communication ecosystem towards a Matrix based future. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://cfp.2026.matrix.org/matrix-conference-2026/talk/HVRHVW/

Video:matrix-conf-2026-98326-eng-Preserving_Integration_Rebuilding_the_Core_Matrix_for_Healthcare_Communication_sd.mp4

October 21, 2026 10:00 PM

Homeserver Decentralisation Working Group Report (matrix-conf-2026)

Matrix was created with the idea of federation at the core, but nowadays there is matrix.org which contains a majority of the users of the wider matrix network, nullifying the benefits of it. This has since also started generating significant cost for The Matrix Foundation and lead to shutdown of some previously offered bridges. The Homeserver Decentralisation Working Group aims to improve the situation. One of the co-chairs of the Homeserver Decentralisation Working Group go on a little journey through the history of the WG, how it formed, what challenges it tries to master and what lies ahead. After a little introduction, you'll hear - about the events that lead to the creation of the Working Group, - how the initial members met, - what problems The Matrix Foundation was already facing, - what goals we have, - what challenges lie ahead of us, - our produced documents, governance proposals, tooling and general milestones achieved - offering a look into the future, on what we aim to do in the near future and what we hope the far future will look like. This talk is intended for Matrix contributors, homeserver administrators, community organizers, client developers and anyone interested in the governance and long-term sustainability of the Matrix ecosystem but also bigger organizations, that want to learn about the real benefits of federation and consider opening up their instance. _In case you don't know about the Working Group, you can find all our information [here](https://github.com/cleverer/matrix-wg-promote-alternative-homeservers) or ask in our [matrix room](https://matrix.to/#/%23homeserver-decentralisation:matrix.org)._ Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://cfp.2026.matrix.org/matrix-conference-2026/talk/HKSYET/

Video:matrix-conf-2026-98015-eng-Homeserver_Decentralisation_Working_Group_Report_sd.mp4

October 21, 2026 10:00 PM

When to Change the Locks in Your Matrix (matrix-conf-2026)

When you operate communication infrastructure for one of Europe's largest defense organizations, "good enough" is never good enough. At BWI, we do not just run Matrix. We trust in the idea behind it: that secure, open communication should be a public good. When we introduced Matrix into the Bundeswehr, we made a deliberate decision: everything, always, end-to-end encrypted. No exceptions, no fallbacks. That single switch revealed the hard problems. Olm and Megolm, built on the Signal Protocol, are the gold standard of modern encryption, but they were not designed for large rooms with thousands of participants at government scale. Those cracks are what brought us to MLS, the IETF standard built for exactly those harder problems: scalable group key management, stronger forward secrecy, post-compromise security. MLS does not just change how keys are managed. It changes how little the server needs to know. And that is not a side effect. It is a design goal. The less the server knows, the less it can leak, and required by VS-AP0024, the BSI guidance we operate under. That settled the what. Rust settles the how. Not as a language choice, but as the foundation that makes formal verification of the functional core possible, and memory safety everywhere else a given. We wrote MSC2546 ourselves, defining how MLS integrates into the Matrix protocol at the spec level. Now we are ready to share what happened next. In this talk, Timm and David from BWI will show you what it takes to bring MLS into a real production stack: what changes in the SDK, what it means for backend modules, and how Rust becomes the common thread that holds it all together. Expect no polished success story. Expect honest engineering: what was built, where it broke, and what it cost. And at the end, the first thing they shipped with it. A new way to have a conversation that leaves no trace. Come find out when to change the locks. Join our journey. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://cfp.2026.matrix.org/matrix-conference-2026/talk/8ZCYUQ/

Video:matrix-conf-2026-93688-eng-When_to_Change_the_Locks_in_Your_Matrix_sd.mp4

October 21, 2026 10:00 PM

Why Is There Rust in our Matrix? (matrix-conf-2026)

When you operate communication infrastructure for one of Europe's largest defense organizations, "good enough" is never good enough. At BWI, we do not just run Matrix. We trust in the idea behind it: that secure, open communication should be a public good. This talk traces that journey. It begins with our decision to adopt Matrix as the sovereign communication backbone for the German armed forces, and the architectural ambition that drives our work: a communication stack where the functional core is formally verifiable, and memory safety is a given everywhere else. An engineering target we are actively working toward. As a first step toward that goal, working with Element, we brought a Rust-based cryptographic SDK into existence, the Matrix Rust SDK, a unified crypto platform shared across all our client applications, born from our security requirements and built to last. Rust was not an aesthetic choice. It was a deliberate decision rooted in memory safety, auditability, and the practical requirements of formal verification tooling. Our work did not stop with the SDK. The same questions that shaped our cryptographic foundation led us to ask **harder** ones about the **backend**: what would a homeserver look like if security and formal verifiability were first-class requirements from day one, not afterthoughts? We have been exploring that question, and in this talk we want to share what we have learned so far, the decisions we faced, and where those explorations have taken us. Join our journey. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://cfp.2026.matrix.org/matrix-conference-2026/talk/8EBDVB/

Video:matrix-conf-2026-93687-eng-Why_Is_There_Rust_in_our_Matrix_sd.mp4

October 21, 2026 10:00 PM

Matrix Wrench - an admin tool for operators and community managers (matrix-conf-2026)

Are you operating a large server, bridge or bot? Are you managing lots of spaces or rooms? Do you sometimes need to modify rooms outside of your regular account? Try Matrix Wrench. It's is a powerful, open-source web app to view and edit room states. It works with access tokens from users and AppServices. In my time at the Matrix.org bridges team, I had worked on a few of the largest bridges operated at the time. Routine tasks included supporting the community leaders, e.g. when room admins had made mistakes or became inactive. With the administrator role of the bridge bot, we we're able to modify the room state, revoke rights and promote new community leaders to administrators. What started as a lot of manual, error-prone work in the terminal with curl became a web app written for the job. It allowed us as operators and community managers to tweak the rooms easier and faster. Wrong permissions? View them. Fix them. Wrong room visibility? Easy fix. Lots of unwanted accounts? Kick them at once. Migrate a community to a new room? Copy the state and members you want. Matrix Wrench is closely built around the Matrix API endpoint. Most buttons only fire one network request. Many actions have simple forms, so you don't need to look up the Matrix Spec in a hurry. And if you want to replicate any of the actions in Matrix Wrench, e.g. for an automated script, you can have a look at its Network Manager which shows a curl command for all performed requests. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://cfp.2026.matrix.org/matrix-conference-2026/talk/RAJEHG/

Video:matrix-conf-2026-92092-eng-Matrix_Wrench_-_an_admin_tool_for_operators_and_community_managers_sd.mp4

October 21, 2026 10:00 PM

Sustainable Digital Sovereignty (matrix-conf-2026)

Digital Sovereignty is on every lips, however whilst the tech is here, we have yet to find a financially sustainable solution to it. The tragedy of the commons of open source is not new, but we’ve got to the point of needing to solve it if we really want organisations to be sovereign and resilient whilst use secure and polished products. We all know (or will know by the end of the conference!) that Matrix is the ideal answer for any organisation looking to break free from vendor lock-in for their communications, not only because of its intrinsic properties of decentralisation and end-to-end encryption, but because it is an open standard. An open standard brings neutrality and an ecosystem which allows multiple vendors to thrive, creating a healthy competition to raise the bar of product quality and target specific markets. This makes Matrix the perfect microcosm to get concrete examples on how digital sovereignty can be preserved in a financially sustainable manner in order to build products which can compete with the vendor-locked incumbents: from the governance of the standard to the various vendors via the open source community, this talk will use concrete examples to highlight the best and most efficient practices to contribute back for everyone’s benefit. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://cfp.2026.matrix.org/matrix-conference-2026/talk/UZT7QE/

Video:matrix-conf-2026-105092-eng-Sustainable_Digital_Sovereignty_sd.mp4

October 21, 2026 10:00 PM

Matrix and MLS - The next step of the evolution (matrix-conf-2026)

Last year we started the endeavour of bringing Matrix and MLS together. The work on this subject led to some pretty exciting developments. Here you will be the first to learn about them! Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://cfp.2026.matrix.org/matrix-conference-2026/talk/G9XJTA/

Video:matrix-conf-2026-103858-eng-Matrix_and_MLS_-_The_next_step_of_the_evolution_sd.mp4

October 21, 2026 10:00 PM

Making Matrix Feel Like WhatsApp Without Centralizing It (matrix-conf-2026)

Gua is an experimental Matrix-based messenger built around a deliberately provocative question: can a federated, end-to-end encrypted network feel as simple as WhatsApp, and what do you have to "centralize" to get there? The project is an experiment built around the Matrix ecosystem. It builds on Element clients for iOS, Android, and Web, Synapse, and Matrix Authentication Service, with targeted Gua-specific forks where the user experience requires it. The goal is to keep the robustness of Matrix federation while hiding the complexity that usually scares off everyday users: homeserver choice, full Matrix IDs, server-specific login details, and federation topology. Gua is an early-stage architecture and product-design case study about making Matrix federation usable for people who would otherwise never adopt a federated messenger. Matrix gives us federation, interoperability, end-to-end encryption, and the possibility of communication networks that are not controlled by a single vendor. But the average user does not want to think about homeservers, server names, Matrix IDs, login methods, federation topology, or trust boundaries. In many countries, messaging products such as WhatsApp became dominant partly because onboarding is extremely simple: enter a phone number, receive a code, and start talking. Gua explores whether a Matrix-based messenger can offer that kind of simplicity without giving up the federated architecture underneath. The prototype uses Element-based clients, a Gua identity service, a fork of Matrix Authentication Service, and a new component called "Gua Resolver". The Resolver identifies where an account is hosted or selects a homeserver for registration. Authentication uses OpenID Connect, while messaging continues through the standard Matrix APIs and federation. Synapse itself remains unmodified. A brief demonstration introduces the user experience, followed by an architectural walkthrough showing how account routing and authentication work without placing the resolver in the message path. The second half addresses the trust model. In today’s deployment, one operator maintains the resolver, a signed list of eligible account-hosting servers, and the associated routing policy. The client authenticates the resolver over HTTPS but does not yet verify the signatures on its routing data. The proposed next step is a network of independently operated Gua nodes, each with its own identity provider, resolver, and signing authority. Signed records could be shared across operators and verified by clients, allowing organizations and communities to operate their own infrastructure while preserving a simple experience for users. This seven-minute talk uses Gua to explore the architectural and trust trade-offs involved in making Matrix feel familiar without reproducing central control. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://cfp.2026.matrix.org/matrix-conference-2026/talk/FEBUFM/

Video:matrix-conf-2026-102447-eng-Making_Matrix_Feel_Like_WhatsApp_Without_Centralizing_It_sd.mp4

October 21, 2026 10:00 PM

MSG GOV: Building Brazil's Sovereign Government Messaging Platform on Matrix (matrix-conf-2026)

Governments increasingly need messaging that is secure, federated, and independent from foreign proprietary platforms, but turning an open protocol into a deployable government tool raises hard questions about sovereignty, infrastructure, and identity. This talk presents MSG GOV, a Matrix-based messaging platform for the Brazilian federal government. Today, it targets a defined set of public servants rather than the entire population or every government employee — a deliberate, controlled scope as the platform matures. We plan to share the factors that drove the need for a sovereign messaging app in the first place and to dig into how MSG GOV is built and run. The solution is designed to operate on SERPRO's sovereign cloud, the Brazilian government's own cloud infrastructure, with all the operational and trust implications that entail. At the center of the talk is identity: how MSG GOV integrates with gov.br, Brazil's national single-sign-on system, through a dedicated user management module we developed to bridge gov.br authentication with Matrix accounts. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://cfp.2026.matrix.org/matrix-conference-2026/talk/LNVNTW/

Video:matrix-conf-2026-102431-eng-MSG_GOV_Building_Brazils_Sovereign_Government_Messaging_Platform_on_Matrix_sd.mp4

October 21, 2026 10:00 PM

Towards a Post-Quantum Matrix Protocol: A Hybrid Design Adapted to the Brazilian Scenario (matrix-conf-2026)

This presentation outlines the development experience of a post-quantum cryptography (PQC) extension for the vodozemac library, tailored for its use in MSG GOV, a Matrix-powered E2EE messenger for the Brazilian federal government. Our hybrid design is adapted to support multiple PQC algorithms, including ML-KEM and Brazil's state-mandated cryptography. The talk details the practical software engineering challenges associated with the hybrid integration of flexible PQC features into the Matrix protocol, extending both the key agreement and the Double Ratchet algorithm while preserving compatibility. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://cfp.2026.matrix.org/matrix-conference-2026/talk/TZ8ZYX/

Video:matrix-conf-2026-102429-eng-Towards_a_Post-Quantum_Matrix_Protocol_A_Hybrid_Design_Adapted_to_the_Brazilian_Scenario_sd.mp4

October 21, 2026 10:00 PM

Challenges of Matrix within Europe's most sovereign, most secure and largest IT Infrastructure (matrix-conf-2026)

Matrix was designed around strong end-to-end encryption and user-controlled trust. While this model is ideal for private communication, large public-sector and critical infrastructure deployments face additional requirements that go beyond traditional E2EE. This talk explores the challenges of operating Matrix within one of Europe's largest sovereign and security-critical IT infrastructures, where legal archiving obligations, compliance requirements, incident handling, automation and long-term information governance must coexist with modern encrypted communication. We discuss why classic end-to-end encryption is not always sufficient in enterprise environments and examine the concept of End-to-Organization Encryption (E2OE) as a potential architectural approach. Rather than focusing solely on technical implementation, the session evaluates the trade-offs between confidentiality, organizational trust, operational resilience and regulatory compliance. Topics include message archiving, eDiscovery, compliance scanning, bot integration, fall handling, key recovery, device loss, and organizational access models. We will also discuss how these requirements influence Matrix client architecture, headless clients, encryption key management and federation. The presentation is intended for Matrix developers, infrastructure architects, security professionals and public-sector operators interested in deploying Matrix at national scale while balancing sovereignty, usability and compliance. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://cfp.2026.matrix.org/matrix-conference-2026/talk/RERS8J/

Video:matrix-conf-2026-102423-eng-Challenges_of_Matrix_within_Europes_most_sovereign_most_secure_and_largest_IT_Infrastructure_sd.mp4

October 21, 2026 10:00 PM

Integrations at Work: Bringing Workplace Apps into Element (matrix-conf-2026)

In 2026, Element's Integrations team set out to make Matrix the productivity layer for sovereign workplaces, the place where your files, documents, projects, and calendar don't just link out, but live alongside your conversations. We'll walk through what we built, how we approached the hard problems, and what it means for organisations already running open-source workplace stacks. We'll also look at where this is headed and what it'll take for the wider Matrix ecosystem to build it together. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://cfp.2026.matrix.org/matrix-conference-2026/talk/JVU9AL/

Video:matrix-conf-2026-102369-eng-Integrations_at_Work_Bringing_Workplace_Apps_into_Element_sd.mp4

October 21, 2026 10:00 PM

TI-Messenger goes Europe: Austrian healthcare adopts matrix protocol (matrix-conf-2026)

Famedly talks about the developments in the Austrian healthcare market and the adoption of matrix as the messenger protocol of choice. Leaning into the similarities and differences between Germany and Austria. On January 1, 2025, Austria officially discontinued the use of fax machines for exchanging patient data. While a necessary digital milestone, this abrupt shift initially led to a highly fragmented landscape of disconnected replacement solutions. Recognizing the looming interoperability crisis as early as 2024, state and federal institutions began searching for a unified, scalable alternative. Drawing inspiration from Germany, the TI Messenger was quickly identified as a highly promising blueprint for a nationwide fix. This catalyzed a wave of regional innovation. In Salzburg, an informal pilot successfully connected the state hospital holding company (Salzburger Landeskliniken) with regional doctors' offices. This was achieved through a collaboration between industry partners Famedly and x-tention, alongside "Medspeak," a grassroots Matrix server initiative hosted by two local physicians. Simultaneously, Austria's national regulatory authority (Elga GmbH) began drafting a standardized specification for adopting the Matrix protocol in healthcare communication nationwide. Famedly was awarded the contract to consult on the foundational version of this specification. Currently, the State of Vienna is conducting a major pilot to validate this standard, working closely with industry partners such as Famedly, x-tention, and Cloudflight. This talk explores the evolution of Austria's transition toward a unified, Matrix-based healthcare communication infrastructure, offering unique insights and lessons learned from Famedly’s perspective as a driving industry partner. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://cfp.2026.matrix.org/matrix-conference-2026/talk/AWDD8K/

Video:matrix-conf-2026-102356-eng-TI-Messenger_goes_Europe_Austrian_healthcare_adopts_matrix_protocol_sd.mp4

October 21, 2026 10:00 PM

Starting a Sovereign Chat Project in the Dutch Government: Early Lessons (matrix-conf-2026)

How do you start a sovereign, secure chat project in the public sector? Together with the Dutch Ministry of Defence, we are launching a Matrix-based solution to enable interoperable, archivable, and decentralized communication. In this talk, we share our early experiences, including the challenges of compliance, archiving, and adoption, as well as the lessons learned so far. Join us to explore how Matrix can support sovereign, future-proof communication for government organizations. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://cfp.2026.matrix.org/matrix-conference-2026/talk/KS3A8F/

Video:matrix-conf-2026-101713-eng-Starting_a_Sovereign_Chat_Project_in_the_Dutch_Government_Early_Lessons_sd.mp4

October 21, 2026 10:00 PM

When the Bridge Looks Like an Attacker: Building a Focus App on Matrix Instagram Bridges (matrix-conf-2026)

BreakFree is an app blocker with a texting layer built on Matrix, it block Instagram's Reels and feed, keep your DMs. Most blockers make you nuke the whole app and lose messaging too. BreakFree routes DMs through mautrix-meta / mautrix-instagram so texting survives. This talk is about what broke when a puppeting bridge went under thousands of non-technical users: unfamiliar-login flags, ban warnings from Instagram. Tead-receipt and reliability quirks, media storage, proxies, and the changes I made to the bridge and my Matrix setup to keep it standing. Plus the trust and privacy tradeoffs, and whether consumer-facing bridges can hold up as real infrastructure. The problem: why a focus app needs to keep messaging at all, and why "just open Instagram" defeats the purpose. Why Matrix: choosing puppeting bridges over alternatives, and how the app sits on top of mautrix-instagram / mautrix-meta. What broke: the collision with Meta's anti-abuse systems: unfamiliar-login flags, ban warnings reaching real users, read receipts, proxy and session-handling changes, and reliability under active pushback, scaling issues. trust and privacy tradeoffs of routing user sessions through a bridge, and what shipping to thousands of non-technical users revealed about whether consumer-facing bridges are durable. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://cfp.2026.matrix.org/matrix-conference-2026/talk/TDZNKE/

Video:matrix-conf-2026-101303-eng-When_the_Bridge_Looks_Like_an_Attacker_Building_a_Focus_App_on_Matrix_Instagram_Bridges_sd.mp4

October 21, 2026 10:00 PM

Common challenges for organizations when deploying [matrix] (matrix-conf-2026)

A vanilla matrix deployment already offers a lot options and is part of many digital sovereign communication solutions (and for good reasons). It can solve some of its tech dependency issues and can be a great alternative to Teams, Slack, WhatsApp etc. However, some organizational requirements still require more careful thought and planning than one might expect at first glance. This talk summarizes some of our experiences with often overlooked challenges, decisions with potentially far-reaching consequences and possible solutions/approaches when trying to implement a Matrix-Deployment for bigger organizations like schools, universities or other public organizations and similar projects. We take a quick look at the law, matrixID, administration and moderation, clients, videocall and possible useful extensions/widgets as well as what we did when the vanilla matrix wasnt enough. Among others things, we will take a (somewhat quick) look at: Users, Identity, Auth: - the MatrixID and its pitfalls (UUID vs human-readable) - IDP (OIDC), auth, SSO - when pre-populating users is needed - mapping of the organizational structures into matrix (spaces, rooms, using LDAP for room/member sync/provisioning) Law: GDPR and Friends - relevant GPDR articles (17,16,5,25,12/13) and its relevant homeserver configs - (Public) Federation or closed, archiving Administration and Moderation - retention/purge job settings - Useful admin tools (ketesa, synadm, matrix-wrench) - E2EE default settings and docs - room permissions and deopping (or missing room admins) - moderation (draupnir, community policy lists, antispam, actions) Infrastructure - Deployment mode (k8s, VM with ansible, ..) - synapse worker loadbalancing, scaling Clients, Video, Extensions - Requirements inform client choices (Videocalls? Extensions? Latex? etc..) - Videocalls requirements potentially useful extensions/widgets: - collaborative whiteboard (Neoboard), meetings organizer (NeoDateFix) - bots, integrations, services: - bots: AI/LLM bots (baibot), auto-translations, helpdesk, etc - webhooking (hookshot): alerts, jira-tickets, git notifications, feeds - bridges (mautrix) When matrix vanilla is not enough: quick overview of custom solutions - search injection, LDAP group syncs into rooms - problems with the matrix vanilla spec (deopping of chatrooms, invite permissions) - Usecase "Schulchat" (addressbook, tools for teachers, permissions): - IDM-provisioner, admin panel, communication matrix - active read receipts, abuse reports, simpler keys - custom fluffychat: PDF preview, polls Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://cfp.2026.matrix.org/matrix-conference-2026/talk/37GLHX/

Video:matrix-conf-2026-101286-eng-Common_challenges_for_organizations_when_deploying_matrix_sd.mp4

October 21, 2026 10:00 PM

NI2CE network effects in a voluntary adoption paradigm (matrix-conf-2026)

Convincing users to move to NI2CE messenger and move away from the tools they are used to working with remains an issue. I would like to share my thoughts and discuss how other organisations where the use of Matrix messengers is optional deal with this. NI2CE is a messenger solution that we deployed for NATO users to provide a safer and more private alternative for the widespread use of Whatsapp and Signal. The use of NI2CE is optional as users need to install it on a personal device for mobile use. I had hoped that reaching a critical mass of users would increase adoption and lead to a quick growth of users. This has not materialized unfortunately. In this talk, I would like to show how we tried to convince users to migrate and would like to get the points of view of other organisations that might deal with this. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://cfp.2026.matrix.org/matrix-conference-2026/talk/DFBNCV/

Video:matrix-conf-2026-101195-eng-NI2CE_network_effects_in_a_voluntary_adoption_paradigm_sd.mp4

October 21, 2026 10:00 PM

Feature asymmetry in interoperable messaging - a barrier for mitigating network effects? (matrix-conf-2026)

This talk is about how feature asymmetries between interoperable messaging apps may disrupt users' online self-presentation, that is, how they choose what features to use with different groups of people to control the impression they form of them. Most users of messaging apps have their strategies to uphold some specific “persona”, if it is sending GIFs to add a humorous tone to the conversation, intentionally using dots at the end of messages to seem more intelligent or professional in front of their boss, or how they resonate when choosing a Snapchat avatar versus their profile picture for Teams. However, in interoperable messaging, some features are sometimes presented in different ways across clients. For example, one app may offer the sender to react to messages with an emoji, so they can reply to messages fast and with low effort, but the receiver app may attach animations to these reactions, bringing a more effortful and playful tone to the conversation. So how do these asymmetries affect users' self-presentation, when may they experience a conversation differently to how the receiver sees it? In this talk, I present a research study on how feature asymmetries across different protocols and clients may affect self-presentation and what this means for interoperability as a means for mitigating network effects. The study was done together with the _mInt research lab on user-centered messaging interoperability_ at Aalborg University. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://cfp.2026.matrix.org/matrix-conference-2026/talk/XTFYUT/

Video:matrix-conf-2026-101087-eng-Feature_asymmetry_in_interoperable_messaging_-_a_barrier_for_mitigating_network_effects_sd.mp4

October 21, 2026 10:00 PM

The Engineering Behind Matrix Notifications (matrix-conf-2026)

A notification seems simple: a message arrives, and the phone vibrates. But in the Matrix ecosystem, a single "ping" triggers a complex chain of events involving E2EE decryption, push rule evaluation, and state synchronization. This talk dives into the architectural challenges of implementing a robust, privacy-respecting, and energy-efficient notification engine in Trixnity. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://cfp.2026.matrix.org/matrix-conference-2026/talk/87JMFS/

Video:matrix-conf-2026-101046-eng-The_Engineering_Behind_Matrix_Notifications_sd.mp4

October 21, 2026 10:00 PM

Widgets Working Group (matrix-conf-2026)

Matrix Widgets have been part of the Matrix universe for years — But: What is a Widget? What is its definition, taxonomy and specification? Why Widgets makes sense in times of AI? Why Widgets make sense while matrix is getting more complicated on the client side? The newly founded Matrix Widgets Working Group of the Foundation is tackling this: aligning on definitions, mapping use cases, and building the foundation for a flourishing widget and app ecosystem across all Matrix clients. In this talk we share the Working Group's goals, current status, and latest results — and invite anybody to get involved. Matrix Widgets have long been an underutilised part of the ecosystem — powerful in theory, but held back by fragmented definitions, limited discoverability, and inconsistent client support. At Matrix Summit 2026, a group of community members came together to change that. The newly founded Matrix Widgets Working Group of the Matrix Foundation is taking on the challenge: establishing a shared taxonomy for what a "Widget" actually is, mapping user needs and use cases, and laying the groundwork for a thriving app ecosystem — including a widget catalogue or App Store that makes widgets accessible and trustworthy for all Matrix clients and users. In this talk, we will share: - Why we founded the WG and what problem we are solving - Our working definition of Matrix Widgets and how it differs from what exists today - The key topics the WG is working on: Discovery & Distribution, Developer Experience, Mobile Support, and more Current results, open questions, and how you can get involved Whether you are a client developer, a widget builder, or simply curious about the future of apps in Matrix — this talk is for you. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://cfp.2026.matrix.org/matrix-conference-2026/talk/ZAMKVT/

Video:matrix-conf-2026-101043-eng-Widgets_Working_Group_sd.mp4

October 21, 2026 10:00 PM

Matrix as an App Backend: The perfect container for private structured Data (matrix-conf-2026)

Have you ever wanted to use Matrix as a backend for privately shared notes, workout tracking, expense management, task lists, or local LLM memory storage? Matrix is a surprisingly strong fit for these use cases. It offers end-to-end encryption, solid SDK support, multiple homeserver implementations, and effortless redundant storage — simply join a room with two accounts on different homeservers. All of this makes Matrix an ideal backend for apps that store personal data with owner-controlled collaboration and sharing. In this talk, I will present what requirements Matrix needs to fulfil to be the perfect container for this use case, where it currently falls short, and why the path forward is bright — requiring only minimal changes to the spec. This talk grew out of discussions at the Matrix Conference 2025. At the Matrix Community Summit 2026, those topics were revisited and iterated across multiple widget and integration workshops. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://cfp.2026.matrix.org/matrix-conference-2026/talk/HDSVJB/

Video:matrix-conf-2026-101036-eng-Matrix_as_an_App_Backend_The_perfect_container_for_private_structured_Data_sd.mp4

October 21, 2026 10:00 PM

A faster, rustier Element Web (matrix-conf-2026)

At FOSDEM 2026, we presented our plan to move Element Web to be powered by the Rust SDK by rewriting incrementally into reusable components. In this talk, we'll share our progress and insights so far, showcasing our prototype version of the client based on the Matrix Rust SDK along with improvements this has allowed us to bring to the web and desktop version we all know. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://cfp.2026.matrix.org/matrix-conference-2026/talk/FAJUZD/

Video:matrix-conf-2026-100950-eng-A_faster_rustier_Element_Web_sd.mp4

October 21, 2026 10:00 PM

Speedrun Client with the Matrix Rust SDK (matrix-conf-2026)

The Matrix Rust SDK is one of the most complete, mature, and performant SDK in the world. To illustrate our point, we will show off how to develop a Matrix CLI client from scratch with the Rust SDK live on stage, step by step, up to having a fully functional client, with a room list, a timeline, the ability to send and to receive messages, along with full end-to-end encryption support. The Matrix Rust SDK is one of the most complete SDK in the world. It's becoming really mature: more and more clients are relying on it due to its great features, stability, and performance. Maybe you want to give it a try for your own great client? To illustrate our point, we demonstrate how to develop a Matrix CLI client from scratch with the Rust SDK, step by step, up to having a fully functional client, with a room list, a timeline, the ability to send and to receive messages, along with full end-to-end encryption support. We will use the following components: `SyncService`, `RoomListService`, `Timeline`, `SendQueue`, `EventCache` and so on. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://cfp.2026.matrix.org/matrix-conference-2026/talk/BQUNNE/

Video:matrix-conf-2026-100919-eng-Speedrun_Client_with_the_Matrix_Rust_SDK_sd.mp4

October 21, 2026 10:00 PM

What's New in the Matrix Rust SDK (matrix-conf-2026)

The Matrix Rust SDK has grown from an experimental client SDK into the foundation that powers Element X and other Matrix applications. Along the way, it has gained support for major Matrix features while tackling some interesting engineering challenges. In this talk, we'll explore recent additions to the SDK, including threads, spaces, QR code login, shared encrypted history, migration from Element Classic to Element X, and the centralized redecryption mechanism. We'll look at the problems these features were designed to solve, the architectural decisions behind them, and some of the lessons learned along the way. This talk is aimed at Matrix developers and contributors who are interested in the evolution of the Matrix Rust SDK. The focus will be on the design and implementation behind several major features that have recently landed in the SDK. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://cfp.2026.matrix.org/matrix-conference-2026/talk/QEQAZY/

Video:matrix-conf-2026-100912-eng-Whats_New_in_the_Matrix_Rust_SDK_sd.mp4

October 21, 2026 10:00 PM

Side Effects Include: Data Breaches, GDPR Fines, and a Group Chat With 47 Nurses (matrix-conf-2026)

Side effects of modern healthcare communication: data breaches, €1.2 billion in GDPR fines last year, and a group chat with 47 nurses. The treatment is a messaging app. The one you're thinking of isn't it. Walk into any ward, GP surgery, home care team, or therapy practice in Europe and you'll find the same thing: clinicians on WhatsApp. Not because they don't know better — because it works, it's fast, and the secure alternative breaks the workflow. This talk is a frank look at why Europe's most-used clinical tool isn't a clinical tool. The answer cuts across the entire care continuum: from large hospital trusts wrestling with security friction to mobile nurses no IT policy ever quite reaches. GDPR enforcement is tightening. AI may be the first thing that genuinely tips the balance between convenience and compliance. This talk takes a European perspective and asks what it will genuinely take to move healthcare off WhatsApp: better products, smarter regulation, open standards, or all three. The side door works. The fortress doesn't. This is a talk about three people. Amira is a home care nurse. Her "ward" is eleven living rooms and a car. Nobody from IT has ever been in any of them. Mateo is a hospital nurse on night shift — issued a phone, a pager, and a login that expires every 8 hours. Dr. Chen is a doctor. Always reachable, never has time. Three people, three employers, three different IT policies. Same behaviour: they all use WhatsApp. Not because they don't know better. Because the secure alternative is slower, harder, and breaks the workflow that actually keeps patients safe. This talk walks through the data. What the research says about clinician use of consumer messaging apps. What regulators have actually done about it (€1.2B in GDPR fines last year, healthcare enforcement up 26%). And why dedicated solutions built on open standards like Matrix — including the CGM Messenger and CGM TI-Messenger shipping into European healthcare — are still sitting at ~20% adoption. Every country, same pattern. The fortress works. The side door works better. And patients got better care through the side door. The talk closes on AI. Ambient documentation, intelligent message routing, AI-assisted triage. The first time convenience and compliance may be pointing in the same direction. But AI processing patient data inside messaging platforms also raises urgent new questions about data sovereignty and consent. We can't skip the conversation just because the technology is finally convenient. For Matrix developers shipping healthcare products, healthcare IT professionals, and policy makers who want to know what it will genuinely take to move healthcare off WhatsApp — and what role open protocols play in getting there. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://cfp.2026.matrix.org/matrix-conference-2026/talk/8LWQES/

Video:matrix-conf-2026-100595-eng-Side_Effects_Include_Data_Breaches_GDPR_Fines_and_a_Group_Chat_With_47_Nurses_sd.mp4

October 21, 2026 10:00 PM

New phone who dis: User verification using X.509 certificates (matrix-conf-2026)

At Element, we've been thinking about how you can be sure you are chatting to the right person, not an intruder, without reading out numbers or emoji over a video call. One approach we've been experimenting with is the use of X.509 certificates issued by a trusted certificate authority. I'll be talking about how this helps (and when it doesn't), as well as covering some technical details of the implementation. This talk is aimed at people interested in how we can improve the user experience of encryption of Matrix. I'll assume familiarity with concepts around encryption in Matrix such as user identities, but you won't need detailed cryptographic knowledge! Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://cfp.2026.matrix.org/matrix-conference-2026/talk/A8MVMH/

Video:matrix-conf-2026-100422-eng-New_phone_who_dis_User_verification_using_X509_certificates_sd.mp4

October 21, 2026 10:00 PM

Foundation & Governing Board update (matrix-conf-2026)

The Matrix.org Foundation is the key to Matrix' independence from any commercial vendor. It exists to protect the neutrality of the Matrix protocol, promote Matrix as an open standard, give a voice to the members of the ecosystem and ensure trust and safety within the open network. This keynote will give an overview of the latest about the Foundation and will include a presentation from the Governing Board on the activities led by the various Committees and Working Groups. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://cfp.2026.matrix.org/matrix-conference-2026/talk/FYKJMY/

Video:matrix-conf-2026-100236-eng-Foundation_Governing_Board_update_sd.mp4

October 21, 2026 10:00 PM

Sustainable Digital Sovereignty (matrix-conf-2026)

Digital Sovereignty is on every lips, however whilst the tech is here, we have yet to find a financially sustainable solution to it. The tragedy of the commons of open source is not new, but we’ve got to the point of needing to solve it if we really want organisations to be sovereign and resilient whilst use secure and polished products. We all know (or will know by the end of the conference!) that Matrix is the ideal answer for any organisation looking to break free from vendor lock-in for their communications, not only because of its intrinsic properties of decentralisation and end-to-end encryption, but because it is an open standard. An open standard brings neutrality and an ecosystem which allows multiple vendors to thrive, creating a healthy competition to raise the bar of product quality and target specific markets. This makes Matrix the perfect microcosm to get concrete examples on how digital sovereignty can be preserved in a financially sustainable manner in order to build products which can compete with the vendor-locked incumbents: from the governance of the standard to the various vendors via the open source community, this talk will use concrete examples to highlight the best and most efficient practices to contribute back for everyone’s benefit. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://cfp.2026.matrix.org/matrix-conference-2026/talk/UZT7QE/

Video:matrix-conf-2026-105092-eng-Sustainable_Digital_Sovereignty_hd.mp4

October 21, 2026 10:00 PM

What's New in the Matrix Rust SDK (matrix-conf-2026)

The Matrix Rust SDK has grown from an experimental client SDK into the foundation that powers Element X and other Matrix applications. Along the way, it has gained support for major Matrix features while tackling some interesting engineering challenges. In this talk, we'll explore recent additions to the SDK, including threads, spaces, QR code login, shared encrypted history, migration from Element Classic to Element X, and the centralized redecryption mechanism. We'll look at the problems these features were designed to solve, the architectural decisions behind them, and some of the lessons learned along the way. This talk is aimed at Matrix developers and contributors who are interested in the evolution of the Matrix Rust SDK. The focus will be on the design and implementation behind several major features that have recently landed in the SDK. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://cfp.2026.matrix.org/matrix-conference-2026/talk/QEQAZY/

Video:matrix-conf-2026-100912-eng-Whats_New_in_the_Matrix_Rust_SDK_hd.mp4

October 21, 2026 10:00 PM

Side Effects Include: Data Breaches, GDPR Fines, and a Group Chat With 47 Nurses (matrix-conf-2026)

Side effects of modern healthcare communication: data breaches, €1.2 billion in GDPR fines last year, and a group chat with 47 nurses. The treatment is a messaging app. The one you're thinking of isn't it. Walk into any ward, GP surgery, home care team, or therapy practice in Europe and you'll find the same thing: clinicians on WhatsApp. Not because they don't know better — because it works, it's fast, and the secure alternative breaks the workflow. This talk is a frank look at why Europe's most-used clinical tool isn't a clinical tool. The answer cuts across the entire care continuum: from large hospital trusts wrestling with security friction to mobile nurses no IT policy ever quite reaches. GDPR enforcement is tightening. AI may be the first thing that genuinely tips the balance between convenience and compliance. This talk takes a European perspective and asks what it will genuinely take to move healthcare off WhatsApp: better products, smarter regulation, open standards, or all three. The side door works. The fortress doesn't. This is a talk about three people. Amira is a home care nurse. Her "ward" is eleven living rooms and a car. Nobody from IT has ever been in any of them. Mateo is a hospital nurse on night shift — issued a phone, a pager, and a login that expires every 8 hours. Dr. Chen is a doctor. Always reachable, never has time. Three people, three employers, three different IT policies. Same behaviour: they all use WhatsApp. Not because they don't know better. Because the secure alternative is slower, harder, and breaks the workflow that actually keeps patients safe. This talk walks through the data. What the research says about clinician use of consumer messaging apps. What regulators have actually done about it (€1.2B in GDPR fines last year, healthcare enforcement up 26%). And why dedicated solutions built on open standards like Matrix — including the CGM Messenger and CGM TI-Messenger shipping into European healthcare — are still sitting at ~20% adoption. Every country, same pattern. The fortress works. The side door works better. And patients got better care through the side door. The talk closes on AI. Ambient documentation, intelligent message routing, AI-assisted triage. The first time convenience and compliance may be pointing in the same direction. But AI processing patient data inside messaging platforms also raises urgent new questions about data sovereignty and consent. We can't skip the conversation just because the technology is finally convenient. For Matrix developers shipping healthcare products, healthcare IT professionals, and policy makers who want to know what it will genuinely take to move healthcare off WhatsApp — and what role open protocols play in getting there. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://cfp.2026.matrix.org/matrix-conference-2026/talk/8LWQES/

Video:matrix-conf-2026-100595-eng-Side_Effects_Include_Data_Breaches_GDPR_Fines_and_a_Group_Chat_With_47_Nurses_hd.mp4

October 21, 2026 10:00 PM

Netzpolitik.org

LKA Baden-Württemberg: Kritik an Gesichtserkennung bei Demo-Teilnehmenden

Auf dem Gesicht einer Frau liegt ein rotes Raster, das Gesichtserkennung symbolisiert.Ein Foto kann unter Umständen bereits ausreichen, um von der Polizei per Gesichtserkennung identifiziert zu werden. (Symbolbild) – Alle Rechte vorbehalten: IMAGO / Shotshop
Als ein Polizist gegen Palästina-Aktivist:innen ermittelte, soll er auch unbeteiligte Teilnehmer:innen einer Demo per Gesichtserkennung identifiziert haben. Die Gesellschaft für Freiheitsrechte hält das für rechtswidrig: „Die Polizei ermittelt ins Blaue hinein.“

by Carla Rochel at October 21, 2026 03:14 PM

October 20, 2026

CCC Media

A vision for a next-generation timeline (matrix-conf-2026)

The timeline is the most interacted-with piece of any chat software. It's where messages live! It's hard to have a chat app without one. Unfortunately, the matrix protocol has... compromises... in the timeline made for the sake of federation. From the incosistent ordering between sync and history on Synapse, to the inability to jump to pinned messages from before you joined, to the mystery of what happens when you join a room your server previously left. The good news is we have a solution! The bad news is it's gonna take a while. This talk is a rundown of every step needed to get a next-generation timeline. I'll explain stitched ordering, timeline fragments, and why we need state DAGs. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://cfp.2026.matrix.org/matrix-conference-2026/talk/WRGTRX/

Video:matrix-conf-2026-99070-eng-A_vision_for_a_next-generation_timeline_sd.mp4

October 20, 2026 10:00 PM

How can governments collaborate digitally without forcing every organization onto the same platform? (matrix-conf-2026)

Sweden's eSam initiative(eSamverkansprogrammet) has explored Matrix as a foundation for interoperable communication across public-sector organizations. Starting with a live federation pilot between two national agencies, the work has evolved into a broader effort involving governance, security, legal frameworks, and long-term sustainability. This session discusses how Matrix can support digital sovereignty, interoperability, and vendor independence while enabling practical collaboration across organizational boundaries. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://cfp.2026.matrix.org/matrix-conference-2026/talk/TQJAV9/

Video:matrix-conf-2026-97741-eng-How_can_governments_collaborate_digitally_without_forcing_every_organization_onto_the_same_platform_sd.mp4

October 20, 2026 10:00 PM

Introduction to custodial / janitorial moderation and why you are already doing it (matrix-conf-2026)

A introduction to custodial / janitorial moderation and how you are already using this model, potentially without knowing it. In this talk i will present the basics of the custodial / janitorial moderation model and the role split and go into why your already using this model potentially not knowing it and describing what the roles do in a safe manner. While the subject matter of janitorial moderation can become very content warning heavy very quickly this talk will stay away from this by having a here be dragons type of policy around this by only saying things go bump in the night and leaving defining that as a exercise for the audience. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://cfp.2026.matrix.org/matrix-conference-2026/talk/D9Y33R/

Video:matrix-conf-2026-106034-eng-Introduction_to_custodial_janitorial_moderation_and_why_you_are_already_doing_it_sd.mp4

October 20, 2026 10:00 PM

Using Matrix to extend trust across military C2 infrastructure (matrix-conf-2026)

Modern military operations depend on command and control (C2) systems that can share information quickly and securely across organisational, national and network boundaries. Building and keeping trust across these environments is still one of the hardest problems in defence communications. In this session, Luke Wattan will share Labrys Technologies’ view on how Matrix can help extend trust across C2 infrastructure. He’ll cover the challenges, the opportunities, and what this could mean for secure, interoperable communications in defence. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://cfp.2026.matrix.org/matrix-conference-2026/talk/3PYU7E/

Video:matrix-conf-2026-103135-eng-Using_Matrix_to_extend_trust_across_military_C2_infrastructure_sd.mp4

October 20, 2026 10:00 PM

Open, Secure Collaboration at Scale: How UNICC Leverages Matrix (matrix-conf-2026)

Over five decades, is the largest strategic partner for common, trusted, and cybersecure digital foundations across the entire UN system. Today, UNICC serves over 100 UN entities and other international organizations, operating in a global environment where secure, cross-agency collaboration is essential to fulfilling its mandates. Therefore, UNICC is uniquely positioned to identify and promote the reuse of open-source solutions across the UN system and beyond. Operating within the UN context requires strict adherence to institutional independence, technological neutrality, data privacy, and digital sovereignty. Matrix’s open, decentralized standard has helped UNICC ensure that sensitive inter-agency communications, crisis management, and incident response operations remain under complete institutional control, protected by end-to-end encryption. This session explores UNICC’s practical journey in deploying Matrix at scale. Attendees will gain insights into multi-tenant federation, open-source governance, and how decentralized protocols provide a resilient, sovereign digital backbone for global public goods. Key Takeaways: - Strategic Evolution: How UNICC shifted to open standards for global UN collaboration. - Digital Sovereignty & Data Protection: Protecting sensitive data through decentralized, end-to-end encrypted architecture that strengthens institutional control and reduces dependency on proprietary platforms. - Operational Value: Real-world benefits of federated communication in emergency response and automated workflows. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://cfp.2026.matrix.org/matrix-conference-2026/talk/DNNLEW/

Video:matrix-conf-2026-103133-eng-Open_SecureCollaboration_at_Scale_How_UNICC_Leverages_Matrix_sd.mp4

October 20, 2026 10:00 PM

Sovereignty meets Interoperability: The European Commission's Matrix Story (matrix-conf-2026)

Enhancing open standards and data ownership within its ecosystem, the European Commission is walking the (sovereign) talk by introducing a new Digital Workplace service powered by Matrix / Element. This talk walks you through the EC's journey from early architecture decisions to deploying a production ready communication service. We will share the practical reality of integrating Matrix into a large-scale institutional ecosystem - balancing strict security and compliance requirements with user experience and the key lessons learned along the way. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://cfp.2026.matrix.org/matrix-conference-2026/talk/YHV8XB/

Video:matrix-conf-2026-103132-eng-Sovereignty_meets_Interoperability_The_European_Commissions_Matrix_Story_sd.mp4

October 20, 2026 10:00 PM

Forrester Report: Open source and open standards for sovereignty, privacy, and security (matrix-conf-2026)

Digital sovereignty is a board-level priority, but ambition often outpaces reality. In this session, Forrester analyst Dario Maisto presents findings from his latest report, drawing a clear line between sovereignty, privacy, and security, and examining the practical challenges organisations face in reducing dependency on dominant tech stacks, from productivity suites to communication. He explores how open standards and open source can support sovereignty goals, introducing a Minimum Viable Sovereignty framework for setting realistic targets. The session also addresses the limits of open source, including project health, maintainer sustainability, and commercial support, as key factors in mission-critical viability, leaving attendees with a grounded framework for evaluating sovereignty initiatives. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://cfp.2026.matrix.org/matrix-conference-2026/talk/KZM8NW/

Video:matrix-conf-2026-103131-eng-Forrester_Report_Open_source_and_open_standards_for_sovereignty_privacy_and_security_sd.mp4

October 20, 2026 10:00 PM

Between the protocol and the customer: federation expectations in production (matrix-conf-2026)

Every organization that adopts Matrix federation makes the protocol more valuable. Every gap they hit makes adoption harder. Rocket.Chat runs Matrix federation in production for government, defence, and critical infrastructure organizations, and that work shows where the protocol already meets customer expectations, and where it can go further. This talk shares our findings from real-world implementation conversations, findings from adoption, and proposals for native capabilities. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://cfp.2026.matrix.org/matrix-conference-2026/talk/3GTLFM/

Video:matrix-conf-2026-103106-eng-Between_the_protocol_and_the_customer_federation_expectations_in_production_sd.mp4

October 20, 2026 10:00 PM

Next Generation Matrix: P2P, DMLS and more! (matrix-conf-2026)

2026 has seen the resurgence of Next Generation Matrix research funded by Element, as we get back to futureproofing Matrix for the medium-long term. The main project has been the return to P2P Matrix: embedding homeservers inside modern Matrix clients, speaking the very latest Matrix room versions, supporting arbitrary overlay networks. This opens up the world of Matrix for pure mesh communications, and can radically improve metadata footprint (given in a world with no servers, there's nowhere for metadata to gather). Funded by the Dutch Government, we announced this at last year's Matrix Conference in the Matrix State of the Union, and work began in earnest in April. With first releases due in July, we should have an awful lot to talk about by the time of The Matrix Conference in October! Alongside this, there's also been a bunch of work around next generation encryption and yet more ways of marrying together Matrix and MLS, the IETF standard for group key exchange. One of the more interesting directions has been Project Tachyon: what happens if you layer all of Matrix over Decentralised MLS, using MLS to define which devices can participate in the conversation - but use clientside Matrix state resolution for decentralised authorisation having decrypted the traffic? In return you entirely solve the metadata problem: the server doesn't even know rooms exist; all it does is pass DMLS payloads around over to-device messages. In this talk, we'll do a deeper dive into the latest P2P Matrix and DMLS work - and explore how Tachyon might also provide an answer to the eternal question of "Portable Matrix": how do you run Matrix over an existing store-and-forward protocol like SMTP, XMPP, ActivityPub, etc? Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://cfp.2026.matrix.org/matrix-conference-2026/talk/7GYBAP/

Video:matrix-conf-2026-102417-eng-Next_Generation_Matrix_P2P_DMLS_and_more_sd.mp4

October 20, 2026 10:00 PM

Building a safer network, together (matrix-conf-2026)

Join **Jim** from the Matrix.org Foundation Trust & Safety team, as he walks through the progress the ecosystem has made in building a safer network, and invites you to join us in building the future of safety on Matrix. Jim is joined by special guest **Juliet** from [ROOST](https://roost.tools), and you'll hear about their tools **Coop** and **Osprey**. We'll talk about how matrix.org is using those tools, and how we're making them more accessible for Matrix servers. Jim will also talk about **Reporting v2**, a flagship project for the Foundation Safety team, and **how you can help**. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://cfp.2026.matrix.org/matrix-conference-2026/talk/NBMLXD/

Video:matrix-conf-2026-102416-eng-Building_a_safer_network_together_sd.mp4

October 20, 2026 10:00 PM

As a [server administrator], I want to [run Element successfully in my organisation/community] (matrix-conf-2026)

Introducing a new communication tool into an existing organisation or community usually means training users and addressing their common pain points as best as possible. Over the last few years, Element Server Suite (ESS) has empowered administrators to integrate Element in a way that makes sense for their organisations, through tools like Element Admin and recent improvements in the rest of the Matrix stack. This talk will go through what the Element stack has to offer in terms of administration tooling, UX improvements for onboarding new users and integration with existing user directories. This includes concrete user-facing features like QR code login and many features introduced with Matrix Authentication Service, but also leveraging new features in the Matrix spec like extensible profiles. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://cfp.2026.matrix.org/matrix-conference-2026/talk/NBEB99/

Video:matrix-conf-2026-102410-eng-As_a_server_administrator_I_want_to_run_Element_successfully_in_my_organisation_community_sd.mp4

October 20, 2026 10:00 PM

Open protocols unite: Common goals in advocating? (matrix-conf-2026)

Can open protocols communities learn from each other? For sure! I would like to talk about political demands from a perspective of advocating for open protocols based social networks in EUrope. And why I build the alliance “Open networks and public spheres”. I would like to learn about your political demands as the Matrix community and what common struggles are that ActivityPub or atproto communities share with you? This talks wants to build bridges within our habitat of open protocols communities. When advocating for open protocols as relevant tools for so called "digital sovereignty" (that is not for states and their administrations or for purely economical interests but from a digital commons perspective that benefits all) it seems important to build networks - so we can get to know our policies goals and see if we have joined political demands therefore. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://cfp.2026.matrix.org/matrix-conference-2026/talk/PYSDEF/

Video:matrix-conf-2026-102392-eng-Open_protocols_unite_Common_goals_in_advocating_sd.mp4

October 20, 2026 10:00 PM

Bridging private federations across borders (matrix-conf-2026)

This talk will first present an amazing demo where someone from the Swedish Matrix public sector deployment will magically be able to talk to someone on the French one, and perhaps perhaps we will even be joined by someone from the NATO one, what an amazing time to be alive! A presentation will follow to talk about how we manage to pull this through, being on a technological or human cooperation level. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://cfp.2026.matrix.org/matrix-conference-2026/talk/KDNVUL/

Video:matrix-conf-2026-102388-eng-Bridging_private_federations_across_borders_sd.mp4

October 20, 2026 10:00 PM

Implementing Security Labels in Matrix (matrix-conf-2026)

In some environments, governments and regulated organisations can't simply put people in a room and let them talk. What can be shared, and who can read it, is governed by a formal classification policy and by the clearances held by everyone present. This talk walks through a working implementation of security labelling in Matrix using Synapse, Element Web and Advanced Identity & Access Management. We'll cover how policies are expressed, how labels attach to rooms and messages, and how the server enforces them. We'll then finish with a live demo. In defence, government and regulated industry, "who is allowed to see this" isn't a matter of room membership - it's a label against the message itself. Users hold clearances, information carries a classification, and the system should guarantee the two are checked against each other. That expectation is a large part of why many of these organisations are still on older platforms, i.e. XMPP. - What security classifications are, why they're used and who uses them. - What are Security Policy Information Files (SPIF) and how are they used to express security classifications. - A brief look at the proto-MSC written that guided this implementation - A focused look at the work we did in Element Web to support message labels. - How we got synapse to enforce these policies, including talking to an authorisation service. - A live demo that shows all the pieces working together. **Who this is for**: anyone building Matrix for a regulated or classified environment, plus spec and client developers curious about how we approached implementing labelling in Matrix generally. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://cfp.2026.matrix.org/matrix-conference-2026/talk/XE3K3B/

Video:matrix-conf-2026-102289-eng-Implementing_Security_Labels_in_Matrix_sd.mp4

October 20, 2026 10:00 PM

Element's year in review: Interoperability in the real world. (matrix-conf-2026)

A fast-paced tour of everything we’ve been up to at Element in the past year, as well as what to expect in the future. This year's highlights centre on Element's work to make Matrix genuinely interoperable for governments and large organisations in the wild. We’ll cover what’s gone into ESS Pro and Element Pro, as well as the migration from Classic. We’ll also give an overview of all the goodies that have landed in Element X, Element Call, Element and Web. Not to mention our continued investment in protocol research. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://cfp.2026.matrix.org/matrix-conference-2026/talk/SFHGBL/

Video:matrix-conf-2026-102272-eng-Elements_year_in_review_Interoperability_in_the_real_world_sd.mp4

October 20, 2026 10:00 PM

Server-side functionality for multilateral use (matrix-conf-2026)

To make the most of the sovereignty and interoperability enabled by Matrix, governments need to deploy at scale; across multiple organisations within their own country, between partner countries and mission partner environments. At an even larger scale, they may also need to support government to citizen communications - literally tens or even hundreds of millions of people. This session explores what’s required to deliver these types of production environments straight out of the box. We'll cover server-side interoperability, mixing and matching Element Server Suite Pro with other Matrix-based solutions without friction, and how to make federation genuinely easy to deploy and manage - within large organisations and with external partners. For example, when you federate with a partner you should be able to find your colleague in their directory. You should be able to share files with them and collaborate seamlessly, but also safely and in a controlled manner; such as checking what goes in and out of your network with proven Secure Border Gateways. Finally, we'll explore air-gapped deployments and cross-domain functionality - enabling secure communications across classification boundaries where external connectivity simply isn't an option. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://cfp.2026.matrix.org/matrix-conference-2026/talk/CWLX8Z/

Video:matrix-conf-2026-101809-eng-Server-side_functionality_for_multilateral_use_sd.mp4

October 20, 2026 10:00 PM

A common journey to user federated search (matrix-conf-2026)

Currently user search can only be done locally, which would at best get a list of all users known to the server. This talk aims at explaining the research we did regarding speccing and implementing a spec change proposal for the user federated search (MSC4258). We will also explained the different solutions we thought about and the associated tradeoffs regarding data privacy, performance and complexity. This talk is also about a collaboration between 2 public sector teams from 2 different countries :) Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://cfp.2026.matrix.org/matrix-conference-2026/talk/V9PXRV/

Video:matrix-conf-2026-101803-eng-A_common_journey_to_user_federated_search_sd.mp4

October 20, 2026 10:00 PM

Opening (matrix-conf-2026)

Welcome to The Matrix Conference 2026! Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://cfp.2026.matrix.org/matrix-conference-2026/talk/N9AQGY/

Video:matrix-conf-2026-101394-eng-Opening_sd.mp4

October 20, 2026 10:00 PM

Making Custom Profiles in Matrix More Useful (matrix-conf-2026)

An overview of the UX design and technical implementation challenges faced when implementing "live-update" support for Profile Fields in Matrix. For most of the history of Matrix, users have only been able to attach two data points to their profiles: display names and avatar URLs. This changed in August 2025 when Matrix v1.16 included support for Custom Profile Fields (specified by [MSC4133](https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-spec-proposals/pull/4133)). But while clients could now set and get arbitrary fields, there was no mechanism for getting updates to changes in these fields. That made it unworkable to display fields in timelines or any other "live" UI elements. Profile elements could only really be shown if you specifically clicked on a user. That changed this year when Element began to work on a feature designed to communicate "statuses". They desired the ability to communicate "I'm in a meeting" or "I'm on holiday" without needing to change your display name (and polluting every other room you're in with membership updates). This short talk from Andrew and Aaron at Element details the history, UX design, controversies and technical scalability constraints of designing a live-updating system for profile fields across Matrix. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://cfp.2026.matrix.org/matrix-conference-2026/talk/QD377V/

Video:matrix-conf-2026-101353-eng-Making_Custom_Profiles_in_Matrix_More_Useful_sd.mp4

October 20, 2026 10:00 PM

Europe’s tech sovereignty: what’s in it for Matrix? (matrix-conf-2026)

The European Commission defines tech sovereignty as Europe’s ability to act independently in the digital world by developing and controlling key technologies, data, and infrastructure, while reducing reliance on non-EU providers. On June 3, the European Commission has published a tech sovereignty package. What’s included in the package? What’s positive? What the Commission didn’t get quite right and can it be fixed? And what’s in it for Matrix and Free and Open Source Software in general? The talk will provide a gentle introduction into some of the elements of the tech sovereignty package and try to answer all these questions. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://cfp.2026.matrix.org/matrix-conference-2026/talk/HCZ83N/

Video:matrix-conf-2026-101298-eng-Europes_tech_sovereignty_whats_in_it_for_Matrix_sd.mp4

October 20, 2026 10:00 PM

Disappearing the Protocol: Integrating Matrix into a Multi-App Platform (matrix-conf-2026)

In a comprehensive digital workspace, the ultimate measure of success for Matrix is invisibility. End-users shouldn't manage a separate Matrix profile, understand what a homeserver is, or manually exchange Matrix IDs. But how do you take a protocol designed to be the center of its own universe and cleanly relegate it to a silent, powerful chat engine under the hood of a broader platform? This talk explores the architectural reality of "disappearing" Matrix into a cloud collaborative platform. We will explore how to hide Matrix-flavored concepts to users, and map platform-native user management or ACLs onto Matrix. By looking at custom identity servers, and application bridges, we will share the practical engineering required to keep the protocol completely transparent to the user. This talk provides an architectural study of embedding Matrix seamlessly inside a larger multi-app platform. Bypassing basic integration concepts, the focus shifts directly to the specific Matrix components deployed and the automation built to prevent protocol semantics from leaking to the end-user. **Architectural Deep Dive:** * **Identity Automation via ToM (Twake-on-Matrix):** A look at a Matrix Identity Server, with some modifications integrating company-wide directories and extended profiles as well as fully automated user account lifecycle, keeping Matrix profile management entirely invisible to the user. * **State & ACL Sync via Twake Bridge:** Determining system authority remains the hardest part of integration. An application service automates synchronization between a platform's native HRIS-style user/group ACLs and Matrix's room/power-level state, ensuring overarching platform rules dictate Matrix room behavior instantly and automatically. * **The Edge of Automation:** An open design discussion on where the illusion breaks. Should Matrix room attachments share quota semantics with a platform's broader file storage ecosystem? A critical look at the unsolved boundaries of shared storage, media ownership, and sync direction. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://cfp.2026.matrix.org/matrix-conference-2026/talk/39DKCK/

Video:matrix-conf-2026-101196-eng-Disappearing_the_Protocol_Integrating_Matrix_into_a_Multi-App_Platform_sd.mp4

October 20, 2026 10:00 PM

The Adoption Gap: How Choice and Stigma Shape User Acceptance of Metadata-Private Messaging (matrix-conf-2026)

Tools for enabling metadata privacy - which prevents network observers from inferring who communicates with whom - have technically matured over decades. Yet, despite their maturity, these tools remain absent from today's mainstream messaging platforms. This talk looks beyond technical aspects and presents research into adoption barriers focusing on potential users themselves. It presents a study with 96 messaging app users investigating three key questions: How do users understand metadata privacy? What do they perceive as benefits and risks of metadata-private features? And under what conditions would they actually adopt metadata-private features? The results reveal (1) limited understanding of metadata privacy, (2) dual-use potential as serving both legitimate and illegitimate actors, and (3) two fundamental adoption barriers. This includes a prosocial adoption gap in which despite recognizing legitimate beneficiaries (journalists, activists, whistleblowers), the majority of users would not adopt a novel metadata-private app for the sake of others' benefit. The other adoption gap we identify is a choice stigma paradox in which the optionality of metadata-private features enables acceptance but at the same time leads to social stigma, with users worrying about appearing suspicious for choosing increased privacy. Building on these insights, I discuss what these findings mean for deploying metadata privacy in practice - including why universal defaults may succeed where optional features fail. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://cfp.2026.matrix.org/matrix-conference-2026/talk/7TNQFM/

Video:matrix-conf-2026-101186-eng-The_Adoption_Gap_How_Choice_and_Stigma_Shape_User_Acceptance_of_Metadata-Private_Messaging_sd.mp4

October 20, 2026 10:00 PM

Integrating Matrix Chat into the Waldur Resource Management Platform for Sovereign Conversations (matrix-conf-2026)

Waldur is a multi-tenant cloud and HPC resource-management platform. In Estonia it powers the state cloud (Riigipilv) and the national scientific computing infrastructure (ETAIS), where deployments routinely involve personal and sensitive data. Yet support for all of it happens across scattered channels: Slack, Signal, email, whatever a given user reaches for. The context for any single deployment is split across all of them. To debug a problem you reconstruct the story from fragments in different apps, there is no durable history tied to the project, and sensitive conversations end up sitting in third-party consumer tools. We are building a Matrix integration for Waldur using the Application Service API, giving every project its own room. Room membership mirrors project membership: members are invited and synced automatically from their existing project roles, so the people in the conversation are exactly the people with access to the resource. The chat renders directly in the Waldur UI, and for support staff who prefer it, the same chat is also available on the go. We have finished implementing the first version and are now pushing it to our first users for testing. This talk introduces the problem, walks through the solution we are building, and shares our future plans for Matrix inside Waldur. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://cfp.2026.matrix.org/matrix-conference-2026/talk/E9YU9X/

Video:matrix-conf-2026-101171-eng-Integrating_Matrix_Chat_into_the_Waldur_Resource_Management_Platform_for_Sovereign_Conversations_sd.mp4

October 20, 2026 10:00 PM