What happens to Information We Put Online?
It is hard to understand what happens to data we store online. Every text we send, every picture that is transmitted, and every person we connect with is represented by data. This data is transmitted across the Internet and ultimately saved on one or many servers and sometimes multiple devices such as smartphones, desktop computers and laptops. What happens to this data?

Social platforms commonly offer “deletion” or “removal” features that make it appear that you can permanently remove stuff you have put online. Unfortunately, these services are often misrepresenting what actually happens with information.

For example, messaging services like GroupMe and Whatsapp offer to remove messages for you. But depending on the app, your unencrypted messages are saved in a database with a flag marked deleted. Services may be built in a way that they are unable to delete the message on the other person’s phone, instead only “hide” it from your end of the conversation.

For a long time, Facebook would not actually remove photos that you had deleted from your account. Now that Facebook has fixed their system, your photos actually be will be actually deleted within 30 days. Today, you can “Delete this Photo,” however Facebook’s platform may not actually delete it for weeks.

A lot of questions have been asked about how Snapchat handles removal of data. You send a photo to someone, and it is supposed to disappear within a short period of time. However, Snapchat has made it clear that images sent over the service will persist for up to 30 days or until all recipients of the image have opened the photo. More concerning to some is that snaps are not being removed properly from smartphones and can in fact be recovered.

Update (5/8/14): Snapchat settled charges from the FTC that it misrepresented how it was handling user data collection practices.

This is a pretty big problem, since if you don’t have a background in Computer Science, you must rely on what you’re being told in the interface. If it says “Delete,” does that mean right now, forever, from everywhere?

Behind the Scenes on Message Deletion on the Gliph Platform
When we first introduced message deletion on the Gliph platform, our focus was on clarifying why Gliph deletes from both sides rather than allowing complete archiving. (Please see “Our Thinking on Message Deletion“). What follows in this entry is a more general overview of what Gliph is doing with deleted messages.

When you send a message on Gliph, it originates from either the Gliph iPhone, Android or web applications. At that time, the message is stored in a “cache” (memory) of your device. The message is also stored encrypted on the server, and once it is received by the other Gliph user, it may be temporarily cached on their device as well.

If the same message is deleted, (by either the sender or the receiver), the Gliph app first removes the message visually and from the local cache and then tells the server, “remove this message right now!” The server responds by deleting the information from Gliph’s database. If the other person has the app open, and are looking at the conversation, they will not see the message removed immediately.

However, the next time they refresh the view, the app will realize that the data does not exist anymore. This causes their app to visually remove and also delete the message in the local cache. This completes deletion of a message or entire conversation of messages on the Gliph platform.

Nitty Gritty Details
There are a lot of details when it comes to how “cacheing” is handled, particularly around the security of data stored in a local cache. For example, what happens if you’ve deleted a message but the other person hasn’t opened up the app? Is the message still in the device cache and vulnerable?

The security of this area varies with the platform you’re using and what you’ve done to it. For example, iOS protects application data from being accessed using something called “sandboxing” but may be vulnerable if the device is rooted using “jailbreaking.” Android uses a similar sandbox to isolate application data. However, many Android users seek full control over their devices and “root” their phones.

Both jailbreaking on iOS and rooting on Android present important security implications, because these operations can allow apps to access data they otherwise should not be able to. Android users have access to a variety of tools that look for vulnerabilities in apps on rooted and non-rooted devices and attempt to collect data from these apps. 

Gliph regularly wipes and re-loads the local cache on iPhone and Android to help reduce the likelihood that a jailbroken or rooted phone would have persistent message data. However, we strongly advise people to be aware of the security implications of using Gliph on jailbroken or rooted devices.

How Message Deletion on Gliph Works
There are three ways messages are deleted by the Gliph platform today. All of them follow a process outlined in “Behind the Scenes on Message Deletion on the Gliph Platform” outlined above.

Individual Message Deletion
Gliph’s iOS and web apps allow of you to delete individual Gliph messages. This happens when you swipe a message on the Gliph iPhone app to the left and choose delete. In the web app, you tap the Edit button in the top right of any conversation.  On Android, Gliph does not currently offer individual message deletion.

Conversation Deletion
All of Gliph’s apps allow you to delete all messages in a conversation at the same time. On iPhone, you can delete messages by swiping a conversation from the activity view. We have an animated gif showing this behavior in this blog entry.

On Android, the process has a few steps:

1. Go into a conversation.
2. Tap the ( i ) button in the action bar to go into the Gliph view.
3. Tap the 3 dots icon in the action bar.
4. Choose “clear all messages.”

On the web and iOS you can delete all messages by:

1. Go into a conversation.
2. Tap the center part of the title bar on the web or the ( i ) in the title bar of iOS to get to the Gliph View.
3. Scroll down and choose “Clear Conversation.”

GliphMe
GliphMe (video demo) has its own special behavior in how it handles deletion of messages. Once someone starts a conversation with you using one of your links, Gliph keeps track of when the last message was sent. After 48 hours, Gliph automatically deletes the entire conversation and connection with the GliphMe link respondent.  Connection data is permanently removed from the Gliph database as well.

Gliphme acts like this for two reasons: One, to reduce the clutter from conversations that you probably have no interest in continuing, and two to reduce the amount of unwanted private conversation data that Gliph is storing.

It is possible for GliphMe conversations to avoid this automatic removal after 48 hours. If someone who is not a Gliph user clicks a GliphMe link and uses that page to sign up for Gliph, the conversation will persist just like a normal conversation. At this time, we’re calling this “claiming” a conversation by the respondent. After a conversation has been claimed, the messages can still be deleted from that point using the same procedures outlined in “How Message Deletion on Gliph Works” above.

One area where message deletion is not supported is in a GliphMe conversation that has not been claimed. For example, if you reply to an inbound GliphMe message and then wish to delete that message. You can not do so if the respondent has not claimed the conversation yet. We recognize that this may be in conflict with expectations for uniform deletion behavior across Gliph and are still considering how best to handle this with GliphMe.

Expiring Messages
In the Gliph iOS and web apps, it is possible to set messages to expire after a period of time. This is very similar to how Gliph handles user-directed deletion of messages. Except in this case the server has set a particular time, when it will remove the data from the Gliph database. The next time either the sender or receiver opens the app after the message has been removed from the database, any existing local cache of the message is removed and it will no longer be visible on either user’s devices.

Data Impermanence and Privacy
When other internet services store your conversations permanently, unencrypted, it creates the possibility that that information will be hacked or even misused in the future. This is particularly concerning for messaging services that use advertising-based monetization, or are entertaining acquisition by an advertising-based company. This doesn’t need to happen.

At Gliph, we are designing software to avoid these issues. For example, the new product we released recently, GliphMe, uses automatic deletion of conversations after 48 hours. Another way we demonstrate commitment to this is by honoring what is implied in the interface. As in, “Delete” should mean stuff actually is deleted everywhere Gliph can, as promptly as possible.

The entire Gliph team feels there is a strong connection between privacy and impermanent or ephemeral online activity. This includes not only messages you’ve sent but who you have connected with online in the past.

This issue is particularly important as Gliph extends past simple messaging and into the realm of peer-to-peer transactions. We continue to think deeply about how we can empower people who use Gliph with both user experience and technical implementations that deliver privacy through data impermanence and beyond.

We love feedback! If you have comments on this blog entry or unanswered questions about deletion on Gliph, please send a message to the Support Gliph or to support [at] gli dot ph.

Introduction
GliphMe lets you create a web link that anyone can use to start chatting with you on your iPhone or Android. When someone clicks one of your links and sends you a message, you will be notified by the Gliph app. You can reply immediately wherever you are from your mobile device. Gliphme is useful in a variety of cases online, and you can learn more at GliphMe’s explanation page.

How GliphMe Works with Screenshots
Here’s how it works: You start by creating a new GliphMe link using the menu in the Gliph iPhone, Android or web app. GliphMe appears just below the Bitcoin option.

The first time you enter the GliphMe Management view, you will see you already have one link created automatically. This link is used for invitations you send from Gliph in the recently revised Connections View. You will also see that you have the option, Create new GliphMe link.

When you tap that, you’re able to choose a public label for the link. This label will be shown to anyone who clicks on the link you’re creating. You should choose something relatively short that describes what the GliphMe conversation is about.

Some examples include:

• “Trek 4600 Mountain Bike For Sale”
• “Discussion on implications of the Snowden revelations”
• “Feedback on ‘Jazz Hands,’ the song I posted on SoundCloud”

Any links you create are listed in the GliphMe management view. You can tap on the information icon to view the GliphMe Link Details view. This view lets you revise the title and also gives you the ability to disable a given link.

Sharing Your GliphMe Link
On iOS, tapping a row from the GliphMe Management view automatically copies it to your clipboard. You can paste this link just about anywhere you want to offer a new channel of realtime communication with you. Here are just a few examples where it might make sense to share a GliphMe link:

• As part of a tweet. (Include the hashtag #gliphme, if you like)
• In your LinkedIn profile
• Over another different messaging app, such as Facebook messenger
• In an online advertisement
• In the signature line of your emails on Gmail.

The possibilities are nearly endless for where these links can be used, and we’re interested to hear back from you on what you find most useful. Please message the Support Gliph with your feedback.

What Happens When Someone Clicks a Link
When someone clicks a GliphMe contact link they are presented a chat box that lets them communicate with the link creator. First, Gliph prompts them to enter their name or nickname and asks them to optionally enter an email address as well.

If the respondent chooses to enter their email address, Gliph will send them a link they can click to resume the conversation even if they close the browser tab or window. It will also notify them 24 hours before the conversation is immediately deleted.

After they click or tap Start Chat, Gliph presents them with the following chat box:

When they type their first message in and send it, you, the creator, will get a push notification on your smartphone.

If you open the push notification, you’ll be taken to a typical Gliph Messaging Conversation view.  You’ll won’t be able to send photos to them, delay messages or attach Bitcoin until they sign up and solidify the Connection with you.

Respondents Coming from the Mobile Web
This tutorial showed screenshots of what it looks like when the respondent is coming in from the desktop web. GliphMe also works if someone taps a link on their smartphone. They are presented with a chat box in their mobile browser and can sign up and claim the conversation just the same as desktop users.

How Privacy and Connections are Handled in GliphMe
There are two sides to GliphMe links. The creator of the link, (who is a Gliph user already), and the respondent, who is probably not yet a Gliph user.

As a creator, when you get a message from a respondent, you are not connected at first. Even though you are chatting, Gliph does not display your gliph to the other user. None of your facets, (public or private), are shown in the GliphMe chat window the respondent sees.

The GliphMe chat webpage provides a sign up form that allows the respondent to continue a conversation with the link creator. If they sign up, Gliph automatically turns the conversation into a full Gliph Connection. This conversation will be the first they see in the Activity view when they first sign into the app.  At that time they will be able to see your Gliph and any public-facing facets.

Gliph automatically deletes conversations where the respondent does continue it by creating an account within 48 hours after they sent their first message to the creator. GliphMe conversation deletion follows the same rules as normal Gliph Messaging: the conversation is permanently removed from Gliph’s servers and not recoverable.

The reasoning for this auto-deletion is two-fold: one it reduces clutter in your activity view of conversations with people you don’t continue to stay in contact with and two it encourages new people to sign up for Gliph. (We believe the Gliph platform will be more useful with more people on it, so it is natural for the team to want to encourage new people to sign up.)

You can still delete a connection that is created when a respondent to one of your GliphMe links signs up and claims the conversation. Same rules apply to “normally” created connections, all previous messages between you and the respondent are deleted.

Caveats and Additional Information

GliphMe has some limitations. If the respondent to one of your GliphMe links is already a Gliph user, we can’t automatically convert that into a conversation between you two. What we recommend at this point, is that you ask that person what their Gliph is, and use the normal new connection capability in the Gliph Connect View.  (The little + button in the title bar of the Activity view)

You can delete a GliphMe link on iOS by swiping the link to the left and then tapping the Delete button. You can disable a GliphMe link without deleting it, by tapping the “i” and then flipping the Active toggle.

Conclusion
We’re excited about how the GliphMe link can be used to improve private and secure communications across the internet. We hope you’ll share some of your feedback on the new feature by sending us a message using the Support Gliph.

New Feature for iOS and Android: GliphMe
GliphMe is a powerful little link for connecting privately with friends and strangers. When someone clicks a GliphMe contact link they are presented a chat box that lets them communicate with you.

You get push notifications of the new message on your iOS device and can reply directly from the app. Read the blog entry on the feature or learn more at the GliphMe home page.

Gliph for iOS 1.88
We’ve made a variety of improvements to the Gliph app for iOS in 1.88. They include:

• Multi-Invite capability – You can now invite multiple friends to Gliph using SMS and Email during signup or in the Connect View (Use the + button in the Activity View)
• Connect View improved – We’ve cleaned up the view you use to add friends on Gliph.
• iOS 7 swipe behavior – You can now swipe back from a conversation to the Activity View, which is how iOS 7 does things.
• Easier profile setup – You can now add a few profile facets during signup for Gliph.

We also worked to squash some bugs that folks had reported. Please keep the reports coming to the Support Gliph.

• Fixed Crasher when enabling LockDown Privacy Protection
• Fixed emoji being cut off when shown as last message in Activity View
• Fixed tap target area of Message Options button

Gliph for Android 1.35
Over the winter break, we completely rearchitected the Gliph Android app’s internals, allowing us to move forward with more improvements to the app. After a few bug fixes we made the following miscellaneous improvements to the app:

• Better naming – You can now see the tag or shared First Name facet of a connection that you’re talking with in the app. This way you you don’t have to remember people’s gliphs.
• Handle connections – We added a button in the title bar of the connections view to make it more obvious how to edit the connection.
• Help during signup – Commonly, people have a hard time signing up on Android because so many gliphs are already taken. We’re working to improve this, in the meantime we added some text that should help a bit.

As always, we welcome feedback on the apps, particularly bugs or crashes that you’re experiencing. Please reach out to the Support Gliph if you notice something.