B2IRC - Privacy and security

The IRC protocol

IRC is by default an unencrypted protocol. This means that if any party to your discussion uses an unencrypted connection to our servers, it may be possible for third parties to intercept these messages. This requires some technical skills and usually access to the network infrastructure, with the exception of open wireless networks which can be more easily spied upon.

Our servers support SSL connections in addition to standard unencrypted access.

Access to web IRC is always secured by SSL, however the same notes about the IRC protocol apply here, as others users may be using unencrypted access.

Private information and information disclosure

For both access via an IRC client or via web access, we do not require any registration and we do not store any of your personal information nor the contents of any private discussions. We only store technical connection logs, including your IP address and time of connection. Your IP address is also visible to other participants of any channel you visit or any person you share a private message with. Naturally, any Internet service providers along the connection path from your computer to the B2IRC servers will also have this technical information available to them.

Our background organization Säätöyhteisö B2 ry has a strict privacy policy (in Finnish). In short, we do not disclose information to any third parties, with the only exception of a legally valid requests from the Finnish authorities. As a rule of thumb, Finnish law holds the bar rather high for such requests. As B2 is a privately operated non-profit entity, there is no parent organization with access to any systems. There are also no ads, no tracking cookies, no Facebook pixels or Google Analytics.

We realize that there are cases where the security of people sharing free opinions may be in danger due to repressive regimes in some countries. IRC is not the most secure way of communicating, however using VPN access provided by a third party is usually a good way to hide your identity. However, we no not recommend using IRC for sensitive discussions. This is a simple communications media for day-to-day talks. If privacy is paramount, use Signal instead.