Discord is adding end-to-end encryption to its voice and video calls, making it the latest chat app to add an improved layer of privacy to whatever you're talking about with friends. The encryption being used is "E2EE A/V" which Discord says it likes to refer to as the DAVE protocol. The company notes that it experimented with different encryption protocols and it began doing so as early as at least last year. Now it's ready to roll things out to users.
The end-to-end encryption is beginning to roll out today. Discord has confirmed that it will start migrating voice and video calls over to the E2EE A/V encryption. Additionally, it'll be possible to visibly confirm when calls are end-to-end encrypted, and the owner of the call can verify the encryption of other members on the call as well.
While voice and video calls will have encryption, regular chats will not. This includes DMs and group chats. Basically, any private communication that isn't voice or video will continue to use Discord's moderation policy.
Discord also confirms that there are no plans to add end-to-end encryption to regular text chats. So if you want that kind of privacy, you'll need to use other services like Google Messages, Signal, WhatsApp, or Telegram with its Secret Chat option. But if you're worried about privacy and you still want to use Discord, you can always move the conversation from text chat to a voice or video call.
When it comes to verification, Discord says there will be two ways you can do it. The first is with a Voice Privacy Code. Once the call has started, you can open the details for that call to see a new privacy tab. And on this tab, you'll see the green label that the call is end-to-end encrypted. Below that will be the voice privacy code. A new code is generated every time someone either joins the call or leaves and "it can be compared out-of-band to ensure that nobody in the call is being impersonated," Discord says.
The other method is by using the pairwise verification code for each user in the voice or video call. Discord explains its thinking behind adding end-to-end encryption to voice and video calls in its blog post. Going a lot more in-depth with the details. Should you be interested in learning more about the technical stuff that brought this to life.
Discord has made loads of changes to the app over the past couple of years. This year alone it rolled out Discord voice calls on PS5 and added a new polls feature. It also overhauled the mobile app with a new user interface in December of 2023.