Before you switch on a radio
By the end of this page you will know what your device, your name and your radio give away, and what IranTalk keeps about you and what it does not.
Tier 0: no internet · Works without internet.
1. The device is evidence
A LoRa device is physical evidence. Decide before you buy it who may know you have it. If you can, do not keep it, or transmit from, where you sleep.
2. Name and identity
- Never put your real name in a display name or an announce.
- If you use one device for different things, make a separate identity for each.
- Learn how to back up and how to wipe an identity before you need to.
3. The radio
Reticulum hides the content and the route of messages, not the fact that a device is transmitting on LoRa. A radio transmitter can be located.
- Transmit little.
- Announce rarely.
- Put the antenna higher, so that less power reaches further.
4. Verification
Before using any address, check the fingerprint: Check the fingerprint and the signed list. A wrong fingerprint means stop.
5. What we know about you
We have no user accounts. This table is everything our servers keep. If a court order arrives, this is what exists.
| Service | What is kept | How long |
|---|---|---|
| Site, guides, dashboard | aggregate counts; rate-limit counters in memory only | 24 hours / not stored |
| Bridge request | nothing identifying | — |
| Node registry (operators outside Iran) | identity hash, addresses, region class, approval audit | until the node is retired + 90 days |
| Report inbox | sender hash, timestamp, payload | 7 days / 30 days after the report is closed |
| Reticulum and LXMF | notice-level logs | 7 days |
| Chat hub (RRC) | warnings only: no joins, nicknames or messages; the room list (names, topics, operator hashes) | until the room is removed |
| Matrix | what the homeserver needs to work; no IP logs beyond 24 hours | per retention configuration |
| MQTT | no client IP logging | — |
6. What we cannot protect you from
- A device that is already compromised.
- Someone tracking your radio (section 3).
- In chat rooms, the room's server sees the messages. Direct messages (Ratspeak, Sideband) are end-to-end encrypted; rooms are not.
- Anonymity against someone watching the whole internet.