I deleted WhatsApp, ignored Signal, and told everyone to message me only through Session. For one month, I lived without phone numbers, central servers, or convenience. Here's the uncomfortable truth about what privacy actually costs in 2025.
Day 1: The Great Migration
It started with a realization: every message I'd ever sent on WhatsApp existed on a Meta server, linked to my phone number, my contacts, my patterns. Signal was better—encrypted, open-source—but still tied to my identity and Google's push notifications.
The breaking point: A friend showed me how WhatsApp's metadata could map his entire social network—who talked to whom, when, for how long—without reading a single message. That day, I installed Session.
Session asked for nothing: no phone number, no email, no name. It generated a cryptographic ID—a string of letters and numbers that would become my new identity. I stared at it: 055123456789abcdef... This was my new address in the digital world.
Week 1: What Broke Immediately
The QR Code Dance
To add contacts, I had to share Session IDs. No phone number sync. This meant sending QR codes, copy-pasting long strings, or using Session's username system (which requires connecting to the network first). Adding my 10 closest contacts took 45 minutes.
The Notification Dilemma
Session offers two modes: Fast (uses Apple/Google push, reveals your IP) and Slow (checks every 15 minutes, completely private). I chose Slow. Missed three important messages in the first 48 hours.
Week 2: The Privacy vs. Convenience Scale
By day 14, a pattern emerged. Every feature in Session forced a choice: maximum privacy or practical usability. There was no middle ground.
- No metadata trail linking my contacts
- Messages routed through 39 countries
- No single server could be seized
- Truly anonymous account creation
- Resistant to network shutdowns
- Delayed notifications (up to 15 min)
- No cloud backup of messages
- Cumbersome contact management
- Smaller user base (harder to onboard people)
- No phone number fallback
The realization: Session isn't a "better Signal." It's a different tool for a different threat model. If your concern is content privacy, Signal wins. If your concern is metadata privacy and network resilience, Session is unmatched.
Week 3: Under the Hood
Curious about how it actually worked, I dug into the protocol. Here's what matters:
The Onion Network
Messages travel through at least 3 random servers (out of 2,100+), each in the network for just 2 weeks. No server sees both sender and receiver. This is the core innovation that protects metadata.
The Storage Reality
Messages only exist: 1) On your device, 2) Temporarily on network nodes (14 days max), 3) On your contact's device. Lose your phone without backup? Your entire chat history is gone forever.
The Identity System
Your Session ID is derived from a cryptographic keypair. No central authority issues or controls it. This is true self-sovereign identity—powerful, but the responsibility for safekeeping is entirely yours.
Day 30: Who Should Actually Use This?
After 30 days, I didn't switch back completely. Instead, I developed a nuanced approach:
My personal rule: Sensitive conversations go through Session. Casual chats stay on Signal. Anything involving Meta stays deleted.
Session excels for:
- Activists & journalists in restrictive regimes
- Whistleblowers needing to communicate anonymously
- Privacy-conscious users who treat metadata as toxic
- Anyone needing resistance to network shutdowns
It's overkill for:
- Family group chats about dinner plans
- Quick coordination with colleagues
- Users unwilling to manage their own backups
The uncomfortable truth? True privacy requires trade-offs that most people aren't willing to make. Session doesn't hide this—it forces you to confront every compromise directly.
Try the Experiment Yourself
Don't take my word for it. Experience the trade-offs firsthand for one week. Your perspective on digital privacy will never be the same.
📱 Download Session & Start Your 7-Day TrialOpen source • No registration required • Available on all platforms